Childers, Rodney
Rodney Childers Hits 40 Wins at Richmond
Kevin Harvick may have reached 60 wins at Richmond, but crew chief Rodney Childers set a milestone of his own: 40 wins. […]
People
Dean Sicking
NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Changes
Yesterday, the NASCAR Hall of Fame announced a change to their induction rules. Instead of inducting five members every year, as they’ve done since 2010, they’ll be inducting only 3. One of those will be […]
Andy Petree
Why So Few Crew Chiefs in the NASCAR Hall of Fame?
A racecar driver needs a fast car, precise pit stops and the right chain of decisions from the pit box to win. All that rests in the hands of the crew chief.
So why are there so few crew chiefs in the NASCAR Hall of Fame?
[…]
Childers, Rodney
Jumping the (Air) Gun
(Air) Gun Control A lot’s changed on Pit Road this year. In addition to cutting the over-the-wall crew to five people, NASCAR decided (by majority vote of the Team Owners’ Council) that they would provide air guns […]
Bill Nye
NASCAR and Electric Cars: A Response to Bill Nye
Bill Nye is getting a lot of press lately by suggesting NASCAR ought to be racing electric cars. I was rather disappointed with the reaction from NASCAR fans, as many dismissed the suggestion offhand, or offered ad […]
Childers, Rodney
Estimating Fuel Mileage
Last week at New Hampshire, Kevin Harvick easily had the most dominant car, but failed to win the race. They ran out of fuel with three laps to go and finished 21st. The #4 team […]
Auto Club Speedway of California
A Band Aid for NASCAR’s Tire Bleeding Problem
There are three things you don’t mess with in NASCAR: engines, fuel and tires.
Tuesday, NASCAR handed down a P5 penalty – the penultimate penalty on the books – to Ryan Newman’s 31 team. Crew Chief Luke Lambert was suspended six races, fined $125,000, and Newman and his owner Richard Childress were each docked 75 points. The tire specialist and team engineer were suspended for six races as well. RCR is appealing the penalty, but I wager they’ve got an uphill battle.
NASCAR’s made its stand loud and clear in the last few weeks. Tire bleeding will not be allowed. If you persist in trying, they’ll come down hard on you. […]
Drivers
Age and the NASCAR Driver: Can They Still Compete?
Jeff Gordon’s decision to step away from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup racing has resulted in a lot of discussion about aging drivers. We’re on the verge of a turnover as a number of drivers (Johnson, Stewart, […]
Aerodynamic Forces
How Fast Would NASCAR Cars Go at Daytona without Restrictor Plates?
Doug Yates was guest on Dave Moody’s SiriusXM Speedway last week. He brought up a conversion you hear a lot in the week before Daytona and Talladega. Every 25 horsepower in the engine translates to about a 1 second decrease in lap times. Dave did the math: Removing the plates would increase the engine by 450 horsepower. Four hundred and fifty more horsepower equates to 18 seconds off the lap time, assuming all other things equal. That last part was a very important qualification. It will come back to haunt us in a moment. […]
Andy Randolph
The Risks of Cooling Down
Engineering is a constant battle of risk versus reward. How much are you willing to challenge your equipment in order to gain speed? […]