Joe Gibbs Racing
Pit Stop Two-Steps
Joe Gibbs Racing’s new pit-stop choreography made its debut at Richmond. How big of an advantage does it provide? […]
Joe Gibbs Racing
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
DNFs
Toyota Engines: By The Numbers
There are somewhere in the vicinity of 840 parts in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Engine (at least the Chevy version and yes, I am taking someone’s word for this. I did not have time to […]
Joe Gibbs Racing
When Oil Pans Put On a Little Weight…
According to @tomjensen100, the oil pans confiscated from the Joe Gibbs Racing cars weighed between 20-30 lbs. Lee Spencer posted some nice pictures of them. A normal oil pan weighs about 4-5 lbs. Why in […]
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. […]