Racing Teams
Why Start New NASCAR Teams in the Gen-6 Car’s Last Year?
COVID delayed the NextGen racecar until 2022. So why did new NASCAR teams spend millions of dollars running a car they’d never use again? […]
Racing Teams
Racing Teams
Owners, Winners and Domination
Is Hendrick Motorsports dominating the 2021 season as an owner-winner? They are. But is it new? Or is it simply the ups and downs inherent to the sport? […]
Aerodynamics
Daytona: Speed and Secondary Accidents
We all know — and frequently remind ourselves — that racing will never be 100% safe. That doesn’t stop us from being stunned when it happens. The 2020 Daytona 500 Let’s first give thanks for […]
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 […]
Data Science
Data Sharing: Fact and Fiction
New for 2018: Data Sharing NASCAR announced (in a somewhat roundabout way) they would share the data collected by each car during races, qualifying and practice with all teams in the 2018 season. This produced […]
Drivers
Retirements, Replacements and Rookies
Retirement He didn’t use the word ‘retirement’, but the sad news last week was that Matt Kenseth won’t have a Cup ride in 2018. It’s partly his choice. He could have done a Kasey Kahne […]
Aerodynamics
Changing Manufacturers: More than just Decals?
I’d Rather Fight Than Switch If you remember what commercial that was from, then congrats. You are — like me — old. It used to be that an owner was loyal to his manufacturer to […]
Aerodynamic Forces
Will Toyota’s New Nose Change the Cup Series Balance?
The unveiling last Monday of Toyota’s new redesigned race car for 2017 got a little lost between Junior’s wedding and Carl Edwards’ surprise ‘stepping back’ from NASCAR. But every time a manufacturer redesigns and engine or […]
Collisions
NASCAR Drivers’ Risky Behavior and the Peltzman Effect
The introduction of automotive safety innovations is usually accompanied by concern about the side-effects of those innovations. For example, when seat belts were introduced, people worried that the belts would keep them from getting out […]
Building Cars
The Digital Dashboard
Those of you of a certain age may remember these odd looking flat black vinyl things called ‘records’. Records are analog devices. A groove is cut into the vinyl. A stylus rides along the groove and translates the wiggles in the groove into an electrical signal, which is then transmitted to a speaker, which turns it into a vibration (which, when pleasant, we call “music”.) […]