Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Aerodynamic Forces

From the Lab Notebook: Las Vegas and the Mysteriously Missing Oil Tank Cover

2013-03-06 dr. diandra 1

As we head for Las Vegas this weekend, I thought I’d repost on of my most popular posts from stockcarscience.com on 3/5/2008 since the redirects for the old stockcarscience.com site don’t work reliably. The post is about Carl Edwards’ 2008 win at Las Vegas when the team was subsequently fined for having their oil tank cover lid askew at the end of the race. I have edited the post extensively, adding some new information and better graphics. […]

Asphalt

Cookie Cutter Tracks Aren’t All the Same

2012-04-13 dr. diandra 27

Fans tend to lump all 1.5-mile tracks into the ‘cookie cutter’ bin. Crew chiefs don’t — because each one has unique challenges. […]

IndyCar

OPINION The Future of Motorsports Safety II: The Center for Motorsports Safety Research

2011-12-15 dr. diandra 2

The official Indycar report on Dan Wheldon’s death was released today. The obvious question is “what do we do now”? […]

IndyCar

The Future of Motorsports Safety I: Catchfences, Open Cockpits, High Banking and High Speeds

2011-11-14 dr. diandra 7

Since Dan Wheldon’s fatal accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, I’ve read many words of grief, tribute and, more recently, of thoughts about what happens next. […]

A photo of a camshaft
Engines

Blown Engines: A Consequence of the Testing Ban?

2009-03-01 dr. diandra 5

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. […]

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The Science of …Tires (Part I)

2008-03-11 dr. diandra 7

LetÂ’s start by pointing out that tire performance is a really, really complicated issue. There are a lot of variables involved. This post ended up getting way too long, so IÂ’m going to address the […]

Grey Areas

The Science of …Missing Oil Tank Covers

2008-03-05 dr. diandra 29

Danny LaDue asks: Can you explain the location of a NASCAR oil tank reservoir and how the lack of one could improve aerodynamics? Thanks for the question, Danny. I can–with a little help from Josh […]

Engines

The Science of …Setting Pit Road Speed

2008-03-04 dr. diandra 4

Early in the Las Vegas race, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle were all caught speeding on Pit Road. NASCAR has a speed limit on pit road for safety reasons. At Las Vegas, it’s […]