People Archives : Building Speed

2026 Fall Martinsville: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

2026-11-01 dr. diandra 0

The 2026 Fall Martinsville race, the penultimate race of the season, was an opportunity for Kyle Larson to clinch the championship. For Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, it was their chance to redeem their championship hopes to challenge Larson next week at Homestead. For drivers without a win this year, it was an opportunity to avoid spending the off-season worrying about the size of their losing streak. […]

Rodney Childers Hits 40 Wins at Richmond

2022-08-15 dr. diandra 1

Kevin Harvick may have reached 60 wins at Richmond, but crew chief Rodney Childers set a milestone of his own: 40 wins. […]

NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Changes

2020-02-06 dr. diandra 0

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 […]

Why So Few Crew Chiefs in the NASCAR Hall of Fame?

2019-05-31 dr. diandra 2

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?
[…]

Jumping the (Air) Gun

2018-04-20 dr. diandra 4

(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 […]

NASCAR and Electric Cars: A Response to Bill Nye

2016-02-02 dr. diandra 16

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 […]

Estimating Fuel Mileage

2015-10-02 dr. diandra 5

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 […]

A Band Aid for NASCAR’s Tire Bleeding Problem

2015-04-03 dr. diandra 2

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. […]

Age and the NASCAR Driver: Can They Still Compete?

2015-03-06 dr. diandra 10

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, […]

How Fast Would NASCAR Cars Go at Daytona without Restrictor Plates?

2014-07-11 dr. diandra 6

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. […]