A sand rail typically consists of a frame, engine and seat with no protective hood. See a picture of one at the Wikipedia entry for sand rails.

Rieman's sand rail was powered by a Cadillac NorthStar V-8 engine, Horton said. "It's the kind you find in a passenger car. The sand rail is going to weigh much less than a passenger vehicle.

The sand rail owned and run by MA Racing uses the LBZ Duramax engine that’s been tuned to around 750 horsepower, while torque is just shy of a thousand pound-feet.