Safety vs. Speed: 2017 Changes to the Chassis
The Evolution of the Stock Car ADDITION: If you are more comfortable with Portuguese, check out this translation by Artur Weber and Adelina Domingos – and thanks to them for being interested enough in my work to do the tough job of translation. While many fans decried the look of…
The Zen of Brake Bias
With all the talk about giving the drivers the ability to change aspects of the setup from within the car, I thought some comments on what types of changes they can make would be appropriate. Since the only control they have right now is brake bias, let’s start there. The…
Camber Angle and Tire Wear
We’ve heard a lot, especially this week at Richmond, about tire wear. A lot of right front tires were wearing excessively. As seems to be usual at this point, teams would like Goodyear to use a stronger tire and Goodyear would like teams to dial back their setups, especially their camber.
The Arguments for Slowing Down the Gen-6 Car
It’s got to be a little frustrating that there are less than 90 days left before the start of the 2014 season and the rules package for the car isn’t set. Teams hope for a little more clarity following the open test at Charlotte Motor Speedway Monday. NASCAR’s put a…
Tungsten vs. Lead in the Snowball Derby
Chase Elliott won, then lost the Snowball Derby last weekend. His car was disqualified for having tungsten ballast instead of the mandated lead ballast. Ballast is weight added to the car in strategic locations to help the car handle better. A number of news reports have noted that ‘tungsten is…
The Flap over Roof Flaps
Why Roof Flaps? Roof flaps (the invention of which I detail in my book The Physics of NASCAR) help keep cars on the ground. This is necessary because of Bernoulli’s law, which says basically that: Faster-moving air exerts less pressure. Slower-moving air exerts more pressure. A wing develops lift because the…
When Oil Pans Put On a Little Weight…
According to @tomjensen100, the oil pans confiscated from the Joe Gibbs Racing cars weighed between 20-30 lbs. Lee Spencer posted some nice pictures of them. A normal oil pan weighs about 4-5 lbs. Why in the world would you make your car heavier? It’s not always the weight of the…