Earnhardt Jr., Dale

The Science of …Tony Stewart vs. Goodyear

We’ve established in Part I and Part II of this series that there are many factors that go into tire performance, some of which Goodyear has control over and others of which they don’t. Goodyear […]

Goodyear

The Science of… Tires, Part II

Tires: What Goodyear Can’t Control I’ve reproduced the figure from yesterday to reiterate that there are two factors that determine grip: the interaction between the track and the tire, and the force pushing down on […]

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The Science of …Tires (Part I)

Let’s start by pointing out that tire performance is a really, really complicated issue. There are a lot of variables involved. This post ended up getting way too long, so I’m going to address the […]

Announcements

The Science of …Tires (Coming Soon)

Hey y’all from New Orleans. I’m at the American Physical Society meeting, where I gave a talk today to a bunch of physicists about NASCAR. It was part of a great session that included the […]

Grey Areas

The Science of …Vibration Harmonics

Roush Fenway Racing came out with a statement about the missing oil tank lid on Wednesday that just begs to be deconstructed scientifically. “The bolt holding the lid in place failed in its purpose as […]

Grey Areas

The Science of …Missing Oil Tank Covers

Danny LaDue asks: Can you explain the location of a NASCAR oil tank reservoir and how the lack of one could improve aerodynamics? Thanks for the question, Danny. I can–with a little help from Josh […]

Engines
Building Cars

The Science of… Daytona Engine Failures

Another Daytona 500 watched from a hotel bar, thanks to the long standing tradition of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to schedule their meeting opposite the Daytona 500. I would have loved […]