Dover International Speedway
Hendrick’s Dominance of 2021 Spring Dover:
Hendrick dominated Dover and pulled off a historic 1-2-3-4 finish. How did they do it? […]
Dover International Speedway
Dover International Speedway
Key Stat for 2021 Spring Dover : Pit Stops
The key stat for the 2021 Spring Dover race is pit stop performance. When there’s little on-track passing, pit stops become the only way to gain position. […]
Dover International Speedway
2021 Dover Spring Race Report
The race will be remembered for Hendrick Motorsports finishing 1-2-3-4. But it should also be remembered for historically low levels of passing. […]
Aerodynamics
Composite Race Car Bodies
You Never Forget Your First One My first car was a greenish-brown 1969 Buick LeSabre with a 123-inch wheel base and a 230-horsepower two-barrel V-8. That puppy weighed about 4200 lbs and taught me everything […]
Auto Club Speedway of California
Driving Concussed
Driving Concussed This week brings the return of Jeff Gordon to the track, but under conditions I’m sure all of us wish were otherwise. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is out again (and will be next week) […]
Busch, Kurt
Cooling Fuel: Safety or Performance Issue?
Temperatures at the Dover race were unseasonably high. Kurt Busch’s Stewart-Haas 41 team was told by NASCAR officials to remove “heat shields” from their fuel cans. The cans (shown at right) have an 11-gallon capacity. Not shown […]
Bristol Motor Speedway
Turning, G-Forces and Banked Tracks.
Dover is a fascinating track – twenty-four degrees of banking, but only a mile in length. A student approached me with a question: Higher-banked tracks generate higher centripetal forces – so why doesn’t the track […]
Asphalt
Dover: Why Concrete Races Differently than Asphalt
One of the questions you’ll hear drivers and crew chiefs asked a lot this weekend at Dover is how the concrete track affects the racing. Here’s how: […]
Aerodynamic Forces
Overpressured Shocks on the 5-Car: How Does that Create an Advantage?
The 5 car got sent to the back for the start of the race last Sunday at Dover after qualifying third when their shocks didn’t clear post-qualifying inspection. Shocks and springs work together to control the rate at which the body of the car moves. The ideal attitude is the hound dog position: nose down, tail up, as demonstrated in the photo at right by my capable assistant Darwin. That position prevents air from getting underneath the car and it sticks the spoiler up in the air as much as possible, which means that more air hits it and creates more downforce. […]
Aerodynamics
Why Inner Liners are Required on the Tires at Dover
Q: Inner liners are required at Dover, which is one-mile track. What is an inner liner and why is Dover the only one-mile track at which it is required? A: If you look at a […]