February 2011 : Building Speed

turning left, shifting right: why drivers move to the right to get air to the engine

2011-02-22 Diandra 5

Jack asks: “I’m curious as to why the rear cars are offsetting to the right, when offsetting to the left would let the rear driver see what is happening ahead of them and keep the radiator in cooler air, since the exhaust on these cars is on the right. I know that all those drivers and crew chiefs are smarter than I am, so I must be missing something.” […]

Popping Off: Breaking the Two-Car Draft by Heating up the Engines

2011-02-16 Diandra 2

In a NASCAR car, the pop-off valves open and route the escaping steam and/or water through a tube that passes up near the right-hand side of the car’s windshield. When you see a car “pushing water”, the maximum pressure has been exceeded and the pop-off valve opened. […]