Section 179 is the Internal Revenue Code election that lets a business deduct the full cost of qualifying depreciable property in the year that property is placed in service, instead of recovering the cost through depreciation over several years.
For 2026 the maximum deduction is $2,560,000, reduced dollar-for-dollar once you place more than $4,090,000 of qualifying property in service; for 2025 those figures were $2,500,000 and $4,000,000. No grassroots racer is near those ceilings — the limits that bite are that property must be placed in service that tax year, acquired for business use, and that the deduction can’t exceed your business income, though the excess carries forward. Sport utility vehicles have their own cap: $32,000 for 2026, $31,300 for 2025. With 100 percent bonus depreciation now permanent for property acquired after Jan. 19, 2025, ask a tax professional which route fits — this is general education, not tax advice.
Expensing a hauler, trailer or shop equipment in one year instead of spreading it over five can swing a season from taxable profit to a loss, or waste the deduction entirely in a year you had no income to offset.