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. […]
Tracks
Dynos
Magnets and Dynomometers
I have never seen Robin Pemberton looking so disgusted as he did during an interview replayed on NASCAR Now Monday evening. (Well, maybe not since Daytona 2007.) NASCAR did a chassis dyno test after the […]
Goodyear
Goodyear’s Tire Solution
There’s a wonderful gadget called wordle that analyzes text and picks out the words that are used with greatest frequency. So I had it analyze the blog and this is what it came up with. […]
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 […]
Safety
The Science of …Michael McDowell’s Qualifying Wreck
Last Friday in Dallas was beautiful. It started out cloudy, but cleared off and got warmer. By the time I finished a TV interview about 10:00 a.m., we had to dig out our sunglasses before […]
Brakes
Science to Watch For: Martinsville
I’ve had a number of requests to identify science people should look for at the track before the race weekend starts, so here are few things to watch for this weekend at Martinsville. Martinsville was […]
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The Science of …Tires (Part I)
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
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
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 […]
Tracks