blog
NASCAR Numbers 2019: Part 1
With another season in the record books and everyone making their top ten lists, it’s time to look at what the numbers say about the year that was… Season Overview The requisite 36 points-paying races […]
accidents
blog
Which NASCAR Tracks Are Most Accident Prone?
With Bristol this weekend, thoughts turn naturally to carnage. Short track racing means accidents. Given the greater-than-usual level of aggression among drivers this year, we can expect there to be at least a few collisions.
But does short-track mayhem hold a candle to Daytona and Talladega? Let’s see. […]
blog
Cautions are Down in 2018: Are NASCAR Drivers Getting Better at Avoiding Accidents?
NASCAR Cautions are down again in 2018. Is this due to stage racing? The damaged vehicle policy? Or are drivers just getting better and having fewer accidents? […]
A-Pillar
Toyota’s New Cloaking Device
Did Toyota Really Just Patent a Cloaking Device? The headlines sure suggest they did. Toyota patent reveals ‘Cloaking Device’ for cars Toyota Just Patented a “Cloaking Device” Other outlets were a little more, ahem, transparent […]
Building Cars
Safety vs. Speed: 2017 Changes to the Chassis
The Evolution of the Stock Car ADDITION: If you are more comfortable with Portuguese, check out this translation by Artur Weber and Adelina Domingos – and thanks to them for being interested enough in my […]
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) […]
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 […]
Aerodynamics
Daytona, Catchfences and Flying Cars
Track barriers originally were erected to keep cars separated from spectators. In addition to concrete walls to prevent the cars from driving off track, debris-spewing accidents necessitated fencing to contain airborne objects.
Catchfences should have the same properties as walls, but they can’t block the view. Chain link fence is a good compromise: It’s cheap, plentiful, easy to put up and surprisingly strong given its high visibility.
Chain-link fabric is an elastic metal mesh. It can give in two ways: gentle forces cause the mesh to deform. The diamonds stretch out of shape, but when the force is removed, the fabric springs back to its original shape. The fence can also deform by stretching the wires that make up the mesh. A large-enough force will break the wire entirely. […]
Crashes
Does Daytona Qualifying Really Matter?
Okay, it obviously does if you’re one of the cars that fails to make the race. But beyond that- given the huge amount of attention that’s been given to the ’embarrassment’ that was this year’s […]
Aerodynamics
Why Safety Takes Time
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. […]