Cars

Childers, Rodney

Phoenix: Relay Race?

2012-03-06 dr. diandra 1

The race at Phoenix was the first non-restrictor-plate race. A number of drivers experienced engine-related problems, leading some media outlets to start blowing the “EFI problems” horns as loudly as possible. Mark Martin, the pole sitter, was an unfortunate casualties of a “flipped circuit breaker”. One of the most interesting exchanges to me was a series of tweets and a radio interview with Mark Martin’s Crew Chief Rodney Childers (@rchilders55) in which Childers repeatedly said it not “an EFI problem”, the radio commentators persisted in saying that it was. […]

Aerodynamics

Why Does Bump Drafting Seem Much Harder in 2012?

2012-02-25 dr. diandra 1

Although there is a lot of science behind bump drafting, the act of bump drafting is an art. Even the experienced bump drafters are surprised by the touchiness of the cars this year. […]

Cooling

What’s a Pop-Off Valve — and Why You Need to Know for the Daytona 500

2012-02-21 dr. diandra 3

One thing you will hear a lot as soon as coverage of practice starts Wednesday will be speculation about possible changes to the pop-off valve on the radiator. What is a pop-off valve and how will it affect the Daytona 500? Here’s the answer: […]

Electronic Fuel Injection

How close is NASCAR EFI to “Real” EFI?

2012-02-17 dr. diandra 10

As we turn on the (new) engines to start the season, the twitterverse is getting even more full of people debating the NASCAR EFI system. Is it like the EFI in production cars? Is it throttle body? Is it multiport? Here are the answers: […]

Aerodynamics

Daytona Testing Notes: The Magic 200 MPH Mark — Not

2012-01-13 dr. diandra 0

There is absolutely nothing magic about the 200-mph mark.

People have been treating the 200-mph number like it was handed down by a sacred oracle. […]

Cooling

The Motorsports Science Minute Video: Radiators at Daytona

2012-01-10 dr. diandra 4

Thursday marks the first time we’ve had an open test at Daytona in a couple of years.  With the myriad rules changes aimed at getting away from two-car drafting, the teams are going to need […]

Electronic Fuel Injection

Not Fine with Me!

2011-11-19 dr. diandra 6

C’mon NASCAR – I keep trying to defend you and you keep making it hard for me.

@jeff_gluck reports that @nateryan told Brian France that NASCAR seems like

“…an autocratic regime that doles out punishment in a capricious manner.”

While I agree with those sentiments entirely, a slightly different word comes to my mind: “chicken%$!#” […]

Edwards, Carl

Pocono: Slightly Shifty

2011-06-11 dr. diandra 0

The big news for Pocono is that drivers can shift…again. Which brings up the obvious dual questions of: Why would you want to? and Why didn’t you before? […]

Engines

The Math of Fuel Mileage

2011-06-10 dr. diandra 6

I guess when you have people feeding you all the numbers you need through your earpiece, you think they’re easy to come by. That’s the only explanation I can figure out for the snarky comments by television commentators about crews not being “smart enough” to figure out how much gas to put in the car so that it doesn’t run out before the end of the race. There have been a lot of fuel mileage races the last few weeks. Pocono is traditionally also highly likely to be a fuel mileage race, so let’s clarify how easy (or hard) it is to not run out of fuel. […]