Statistics
Can Anyone Really Win at Talladega?
Every year at this time, we hear that Talladega is a wild card because “Anyone can win”. Which, of course, made me wonder — can anyone win? […]
The Building Speed Blog
Aerodynamic Forces
2015 Rules: Track Records I – The Example of Charlotte
@NASCARRealTime, @TheOrangeCone and @CircleTrackNerd had an interesting dialog when the 2015 rules were announced. They were debating whether the track records that are now standing are going to be essentially locked into history. The debate ended with an appeal to me and Goody’s Headache Powder. […]
Center of Gravity
Center of Gravity, Part II
Last time, I explained what the center of gravity (CG) is. This time, let’s look at why we care. […]
Center of Gravity
NASCAR Science 101: The Center of Gravity, Part I
You hear engineers and crew chiefs talking a lot about the racecar’s “center of gravity”. There’s a reason for all the talk. The center of gravity really is the point around which everything else on the […]
Brakes
The Zen of Brake Bias II
In the last blog entry, I explained what brake bias was and how it could be used to improve the car’s handling during green-flag runs. This time, let’s look under the hood (or I guess, more accurately, under the dash) and see how this is accomplished. […]
Brakes
The Zen of Brake Bias
With all the talk about giving the drivers the ability to change aspects of the setup from within the car, I thought some comments on what types of changes they can make would be appropriate. […]
Aerodynamic Forces
Dive! Dive! Dive Planes… on Stock Cars?
A persistent motorsports issue (and not only with stock cars) is the aerodynamic passing problem. You can’t pass without grip. Grip is a direct result of downforce. Downforce comes from two places: the weight of the car (mechanical grip) and the billions and billions of air molecules hitting the car (a.k.a aerogrip). […]
Goodyear
Required vs. Recommended Tire Pressures
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
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. […]
Goodyear
The Dirt on Radials vs. Bias-Ply Tires
NASCAR started transitioning away from bias-ply tires in 1989. So why did they start making a comeback in 2013? […]