Safety

Safety

Transportable SAFER Barriers?

2015-03-26 dr. diandra 2

Joel asks:

Can racetracks work together to make interchangeable/transportable SAFER barriers? To clarify – could SMI or ISC tracks (politics, blah) standardize wall heights, angles, etc. so that they could use barriers at Michigan to fill in the critical areas and then move the necessary walls to Darlington or Homestead? Or even simpler – could the existing walls be setup to install barriers that could be moved from track to track? In the long term I know this is probably not the most cost effective solution. But in the short-term if there are supply problems or significant cost barriers, I thought this could help? […]

Asphalt

Are SAFER Barriers Everywhere the Solution?

2015-02-25 dr. diandra 2

TL;DR:  No. As the extent of Kyle Busch’s injury Saturday evening at Daytona became evident, Twitter erupted in angry calls for SAFER barriers to be put up on every wall at every track. An interesting division […]

Lug Nuts

2015 Rules and Lug Nuts

2015-01-09 dr. diandra 1

Forty-three days till the Daytona 500. The shops are buzzing with activity as everyone adjusts to another new rules package. The engine folks are working overtime dealing with the changes there. The only thing that’s slowed down is planning for on-track independent testing, since that’s been eliminated this year. But more time in the wind tunnel, on the seven-post machine, at the computers. […]

Goodyear

Required vs. Recommended Tire Pressures

2014-08-08 dr. diandra 3

Running on underinflated tires can be dangerous. Underinflated tires they create more friction and more heat, which leads to not only bad handling, but also can produce structural problems. […]

Aerodynamic Forces

Firewalls and Aerodynamics

2014-07-29 dr. diandra 0

My friend at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, Dave Kallman (whose online column should be a regular read for race fans) asked about the confiscated firewalls from the Number 11 car at Indy. That reminded me of the first NASCAR race I was supposed to attend as research for my book The Physics of NASCAR. That was California in 2007. I was to follow around the number 19 car, at that time driven by Elliott Sadler and crew chiefed by Josh Browne. […]

Aerodynamic Forces

The Arguments for Slowing Down the Gen-6 Car

2013-12-15 dr. diandra 16

It’s got to be a little frustrating that there are less than 90 days left before the start of the 2014 season and the rules package for the car isn’t set.  Teams hope for a […]

Concussion

NASCAR’s Concussion Policy

2013-11-01 dr. diandra 0

Concussions were big news in a week where no one actually got one. NASCAR announced a new policy on concussions :  Starting in 2014, all drivers will be required to have a baseline test at […]

Aerodynamic Forces

Sprint Car Safety

2013-06-13 dr. diandra 11

NASCAR fans are used to having our drivers walk away from spectacular crashes.  Unfortunately, we are reminded all too often — like last night — that racing, regardless of all the technical improvements we’ve made, […]

Aerodynamic Forces

Why Safety Takes Time

2013-03-01 dr. diandra 3

I suppose it’s really our own fault because of the way we teach science.

We give you labs constructed to get the right answer on the first try. We have you measure things you already know the value of. We tell you that things were invented by a single person on a specific date. […]

Aerodynamic Forces

Brief Thoughts on the Nationwide Accident at Daytona

2013-02-24 dr. diandra 4

We’ve been painting the house. I was straining to hear EPSN’s commentary over the swoosh-swish of the paint roller as the race came to a close – but it was all too easy to hear the change the tone of Allen Bestwick’s voice. We heard it recently from Marty Reid in Vegas. I remember the first-hand feeling sitting about 50 yards from Michael McDowell’s wreck during qualifying at Texas. A track full of race fans – all quiet – is one of the worst sounds in all of sports. […]