From the Lab Notebook: Las Vegas and the Mysteriously Missing Oil Tank Cover
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...
View ArticleNotes on Respect and Fines
A short note on Denny Hamlin's comments on the Gen-6 car and subsequent fine. I've talked to a lot of the people in the trenches involved in designing and creating the Gen-6 car. That includes people...
View ArticleWhy You Don’t Mess With Fuel Cell Foam
We'd been hearing rumors of penalties stemming from Kansas and everyone expected them to be announced Tuesday. Since penalties usually have some scientific component, I was sort of hoping for some new...
View ArticleThe Flap over Roof Flaps
Why Roof Flaps? Roof flaps (the invention of which I detail in my book The Physics of NASCAR) help keep cars on the ground. This is necessary because of Bernoulli’s law, which says basically that:...
View ArticleOpinion: NASCAR’s Restart Problem – What Would Einstein Do?
Sigh. So instead of talking about a couple great races this week, we’re focusing on restarts. Again. Everyone, from pundits to drivers, is questioning NASCAR’s decisions to not call penalties on the...
View ArticleNASCAR’s Concussion Policy
Concussions were big news in a week where no one actually got one. NASCAR announced a new policy on concussions : Starting in 2014, all drivers will be required to have a baseline test at the start of...
View ArticleThe Arguments for Slowing Down the Gen-6 Car
It’s got to be a little frustrating that there are less than 90 days left before the start of the 2014 season and the rules package for the car isn’t set. Teams hope for a little more clarity...
View ArticleCalifornia: The Good, the Bumpy and the Frustrated
I know this isn’t a picture of California. But it’s a picture out my window, which is why this is a sort of short post. There seems to be a clear division between the people who are upset about the...
View ArticleDive! 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...
View Article2015 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...
View ArticleSkirting the Issue
Flared side skirts became an issue when social media started noticing them somewhere around Kansas. The fact that the most obvious example of this was on the 2 car and Brad Keselowski is rapidly taking...
View Article2015 Rules and Lug Nuts
Forty-three days till the Daytona 500. The shops are buzzing with activity as everyone adjusts to another new rules package. The engine folks are working overtime dealing with the changes there. The...
View ArticleA Band Aid for NASCAR’s Tire Bleeding Problem
There are three things you don't mess with in NASCAR: engines, fuel and tires. Tuesday, NASCAR handed down a P5 penalty - the penultimate penalty on the books - to Ryan Newman's 31 team. Crew Chief...
View ArticleDoes Less Downforce Mean More Lift?
Last Tuesday, NASCAR announced aerodynamic modifications to be implemented for the Kentucky Speedway Sprint Cup race on July 11th. While the changes are (right now) only for that race, there’s every...
View ArticleThe Digital Dashboard
Those of you of a certain age may remember these odd looking flat black vinyl things called 'records'. Records are analog devices. A groove is cut into the vinyl. A stylus rides along the groove and...
View ArticleNASCAR 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...
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Is Stricter Enforcement of Pit Road Speed Limits Making Pit Road Less Safe?
The Purpose of Pit Road Speed Limits NASCAR implemented pit road speeding rules in 1991. The year before, Mike Rich, a tire changer for Bill Elliott, had been pinned between Elliott’s car and the car...
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NASCAR’s Laser Inspection Process: Confidence and Accuracy
There Will Be Rules… The last time I was at the R&D Center, I was given a copy of the official NASCAR rule book for 1948. It was about a quarter of a page. Now there’s a thick booklet filled with...
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Can NASCAR Stop Secondary Accidents?
January is named after the Roman God Janus, who is the god of beginning, gates, transitions, time, doorways, passages and endings. How’s that for a job description? Janus is usually portrayed as...
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Will Toyota’s New Nose Change the Cup Series Balance?
The unveiling last Monday of Toyota’s new redesigned race car for 2017 got a little lost between Junior’s wedding and Carl Edwards’ surprise ‘stepping back’ from NASCAR. But every time a manufacturer...
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