Speed Show
DAve Caldwell
History
NASCAR all started with the moonshiners modifying their cars so the cops would not catch them, while they were hulling moonshine. NASCAR was not founded until 1948; William H. G. France "Big Bill" was the founder and first president. Early racing was often dangerous because there was no safty featers in the cars. Back when Nascar first started cars only went 135mph now they reach well over 200mph. When Daytona International Speedway was completed in February 1958, it was America’s fastest speedway
Vocabulary
Happy Hour
Slang term for the last official practice session held before an event. Usually takes place the day before the race and after all qualifying and support races have been staged.
Handling
Generally, a race car’s performance while racing, qualifying or practicing. How a car “Handles” is determined by its tires, suspension geometry, aerodynamics and other factors.
Interval
The time-distance between two cars. Referred to roughly in car lengths, or precisely in seconds.
Lapped Traffic
Cars that have completed at least one full lap less than the race leader.
Random info.
- Racers get sponsored by random companies that won’t to advertise their companies..
- NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
- They make improvements on cars every day like new light weight material.
- In the Nascar Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series there are 43 drivers in the starting lineup. In the Nascar Camping World Truck Series, 36 drivers start the race.
- Dale Earnhardt February 18, 2001 2001 Daytona 500Daytona International SpeedwayWinston cup SeriesRace
vocabulary
Aero Push
When following another vehicle closely, the airflow off the lead vehicle does not travel across the following one(s) in a normal manner. Therefore, downforce on the front of the trailing vehicle(s) is decreased and it does not turn in the corners as well, resulting in an “aero push.” This condition is more apparent on the exit of the turns.
Aerodynamic Drag
A number that is a coefficient of several factors that indicates how well a race vehicle will travel through the air and how much resistance it offers. Crewmen work to get the best “drag horsepower” rating they can, determining how much horsepower it will take to move a vehicle through the air at a certain mile-per-hour rate. At faster speedways teams strive to get the lowest drag number possible for higher straightaway speeds.
Air Dam
A strip that hangs under the front grill, very close to the ground. It helps provide downforce at the front of the car.
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vocabulary
Draft
The aerodynamic effect that allows two or more cars traveling nose-to-tail to run faster than a single car. When one car follows closely, the one in front cuts through the air, providing less resistance for the car in back.
Drafting
The practice of two or more cars, while racing, to run nose-to-tail, almost touching. The lead car, by displacing the air in front of it, creates a vacuum between its rear end and the nose of the following car, actually pulling the second car along with it.
Drag
The resistance a car experiences when passing through air at high speeds. A resisting force exerted on a car parallel to its air stream and opposite in direction to its motion.
vocabulary
Back Marker
A car running off the pace near the rear of the field.
Balance
When a car doesn’t tend to oversteer or understeer, but goes around the racetrack as if its on rails, it’s said to be in balance.
Banking
The sloping of a racetrack, particularly at a curve or a corner, from the apron to the outside wall. Degree of banking refers to the height of a racetrack’s slope at the outside edge.
Camber
Camber addresses the angle at which a tire makes contact with the track surface. “Positive camber” indicates the angle of the tire is tilted away from the vehicle’s centerline while “negative camber” indicates the tire is tilted toward the centerline. A typical oval track setup would have positive camber in the left front and negative camber in the right front to help the vehicle make left-hand turns.