Police are investigating the theft of a $35,000 Dirt Late Model engine from the Morgantown, Ind., shop of SSI Motorsports, team owner Todd Burns said.

The steel-block Jay Dickens Racing Engine was left in the shop during Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, but was missing upon the team’s return, said Burns, who fields a car for Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series driver Hudson O’Neal. The missing engine, purchased in November, was intended to be used for an SSI entry driven by Todd Burns’s son Austin, who competed in Crate Late Model competition in Florida.

Nothing else was missing from the race shop, according to the elder Burns, who is considering offering a reward for the stolen powerplant. Anyone with information about the engine should call the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at (317) 346-4615.