Engines
Blown Engines: A Consequence of the Testing Ban?
Blown engines were a factor in this week’s Las Vegas race, just as they were in last week’s California race. Let’s look at why this might be happening. […]
Engines
Dynos
Magnets and Dynomometers
I have never seen Robin Pemberton looking so disgusted as he did during an interview replayed on NASCAR Now Monday evening. (Well, maybe not since Daytona 2007.) NASCAR did a chassis dyno test after the […]
Engines
Is the Tapered Spacer Rule Fair?
Combustion is the chemical reaction that converts gasoline into motion. If you remember back to balancing equations in high school chemistry, that often tedious exercise is entirely due to the fact that chemical reactions are […]
Aerodynamics
Is More Horsepower Always Better?
A number of drivers and owners have said that Toyota engines have more horsepower. “I think everybody in the garage is down on horsepower compared to what the Toyotas are.” Kevin Harvick One report of […]
Oil
The Science of …Oil Tank Pressures
A slight errata: This doesn’t change anything about the science surrounding the oil tank box cover and how it could provide an aerodynamic advantage, but it does clarify the situation with how the oil system […]
Engines
The Science of …Setting Pit Road Speed
Early in the Las Vegas race, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle were all caught speeding on Pit Road. NASCAR has a speed limit on pit road for safety reasons. At Las Vegas, it’s […]
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 […]