Keeping the Daytona 500 under 200mph
Discussion
Went to the Bud Shoot-Out at the weekend, for the first official NASCAR event on the new surface at the speedway. Ultra-smooth tarmac and lots of two-car drafting saw race laps of 206mph, which has got NASCAR's knickers in a knot.
It seems they are now trying to devise a way of slowing the cars by means other than a more strangling restrictor plate. Favorite appears to be to limit cooling systems, so that running nose-to-tail isn't an option during next Sunday's race, which is a shame, as the sling-shot overtaking in the Shoot-Out was highly entertaining and very spectacular.
The billiard table smoothness of the track surface clearly inspires confidence and most of the drivers said they were 'cool' with the 200+mph lap times.
Dale Jnr on the pole - ten years after his father's ill-fated 500....
It seems they are now trying to devise a way of slowing the cars by means other than a more strangling restrictor plate. Favorite appears to be to limit cooling systems, so that running nose-to-tail isn't an option during next Sunday's race, which is a shame, as the sling-shot overtaking in the Shoot-Out was highly entertaining and very spectacular.
The billiard table smoothness of the track surface clearly inspires confidence and most of the drivers said they were 'cool' with the 200+mph lap times.
Dale Jnr on the pole - ten years after his father's ill-fated 500....
PabloTeK said:
I'm sure they know how to say enough is enough and back off to avoid the big one!
Sadly they don't because:-PabloTeK said:
...these guys are paid several million dollars to drive these things to victory lane,
Oh and also the small matter of all of them wanting to / needing to prove that they are Billy Big Balls and they can't back down or else they might as well go back to the local Kart track.
On the other hand, allowing for the fact I have no idea of the expediential increase in the physics involved I don't see the problem with 205-210 laps given that they were not a million miles off it 20+ years ago and safety has improved a tad...
PabloTeK said:
It's certainly odd and as I said on another forum, these guys are paid several million dollars to drive these things to victory lane, I'm sure they know how to say enough is enough and back off to avoid the big one!
Not sure they do to be honest, if some of the recent grudge settling is anything to go by. NASCAR haven't helped in that regard, in fact they've more or less endorsed it.hornet said:
Not sure they do to be honest, if some of the recent grudge settling is anything to go by. NASCAR haven't helped in that regard, in fact they've more or less endorsed it.
Restrictor plate racing makes it far more likely as it means the only way to go fast is bump drafting. 
hornet said:
Not sure they do to be honest, if some of the recent grudge settling is anything to go by. NASCAR haven't helped in that regard, in fact they've more or less endorsed it.
People like Kyle Busch probably not so much but I've got the impression from people like Jeff Gordon & Jimmie Johnson that quite a few know when to say "enough is enough" and back off early on in the race to not end up with a car that's suddenly shorter!It's not just the champions either, Dale Jr can do the same thing along with Kevin Harvick and Jamie Mac. These guys know when to race and when not to!
Rude-boy said:
On the other hand, allowing for the fact I have no idea of the expediential increase in the physics involved I don't see the problem with 205-210 laps given that they were not a million miles off it 20+ years ago and safety has improved a tad...
Yes, but... the physics of impacts hasn't changed, the physiology of the driver hasn't changed, and the concrete walls haven't gone away.The amount of energy involved in an impact is proportional to the speed squared. Going from 190mph to 210mph, say, may only be a 10.5% increase in speed, but it represents a 22.2% increase in the energy to be dissipated in the event of an accident with the wall. Drivers die in Nascar because their cars can't absorb enough of the energy in long enough time to spare them from experiencing monumental decelerations, especially to the head / neck. The likes of HANS devices help, but not enough.
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