by "bwp240" (bwp240)
Published 03/23/2017 at 13:09
by "bwp240" (bwp240)
Published 03/23/2017 at 13:09
Tags: NASCAR
; Black Flag
STARS: 2
For those who pay attention to the Sheet Metal Round-a-bout series. NASCAR once again is trying to improve the racing at Indianapolis, and, like normal, they are trying to do it in a complicated and stupid way.
Stock car racing at Indy has had a pretty rough go in recent years. The racing has been lackluster, and fans have not been coming back. Most of these issues comes from the laws of physics and NASCAR thinks they can change that them.
The Bernoulli effect of fluid dynamics states that the same volume of liquid flowing though a tube, will flow faster if the volume of the tube is decreased. NASCAR appears to think that bunching up the cars to attempt superspeedway style racing at Indy will magically make the racing faster and more exciting in the corners.
Per the NASCAR.com article, these are the changes (Note: These changes are to the Xfinity Series cars)
taller rear spoiler and splitter package
aero ducts on the lower front bumper area
7/8th-inch restrictor plate currently used for superspeedway events
The static ride height of the cars will remain at 4 inches, which is unchanged from the current 2017 rules package.
Testing results show almost what we expected, cars ran closer together, but passing was still difficult. To be fair, I do like some of these ideas. Let’s talk about the Pros
Minimum Ride Height - Yes! Minimum ride heights keep the car from being glued to the track and take away downforce. Less downforce = good. Part of being successful at Indy is about corner exit speed, not entirely corner grip. The driver can handle that, no real need for aero enhancements.
Aero Ducts - If the mission is to give advantage to a trailing car and create more slingshot passes. The principle is simple, when you are out front the air passes through these extra holes in the car. This can either give some aero grip or better yet, reduce downforce (depending on how the holes are designed and where the holes are placed.) When the car is trailing another, air bypassed these hole enhancing the draft, thus greater speed. NASCAR could have probably only done this and it would have been enough.
and now the cons
Restrictor plates - They won’t work here. At Daytona and Talladega, the cars take nearly 2 laps to get up to speed, and they do not need to brake. At Indy you need to brake in a stock car, it simply weighs too much. Centrifugal force will smash you into the wall, no amount of aero will change that. The engines will struggle around the track and sound like they are swimming in Dog-n-Suds Root Beer. Also, in case you haven’t noticed, 2-wide in the corners doesn’t work well here.
Spoiler Upgrades - Did you not see the Cup race last year and the year before. Nothing changed, the cars didn’t draft and didn’t pass.
Overall it is a typical NASCAR rule change, 2 parts silly stuff, 0.25 parts good things, and 1.75 parts that mean nothing. In the end, I am willing to try these changes. I hope NASCAR proves me wrong.
NASCAR is too busy trying to change the car to their perception of how racing at Indy should be. That will never work. You are better off spending those resources to update IRP (or whatever it is called now). Indy is suppose to present a challenge to teams. You are taking the car away from it’s native environment of cookie cutter tracks, it is up to them to figure out how to win.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
03/23/2017 at 13:37, STARS: 2
IMS is a terrible track for stock cars. Nothing will change that.
"uofime-2" (uofime-2)
03/23/2017 at 14:20, STARS: 1
Make them run the road course instead, that’ll change it up!
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
03/23/2017 at 17:30, STARS: 0
It’s hard to pass at Indy because it is a one line track for the stock cars.
"Hammerdown" (hammerdown32)
03/24/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 1
I assume they’ll be close to wide open all the way around the track. Corner speeds are ~165 mph if I remember correctly. My guess is that the plate will slow straightaway speeds to around 185? Maybe a slight lift or drag the brake and they’ll be right back to wide open.
A note about the minimum ride height. I think this is a rule that needs to be change sooner rather than later at all tracks. Teams have figured out how to get the car sealed to the ground and then get it back up to clear inspection. I think the splitter created this type of development. If you ask me, they need to get the nose up in the air and some air under these cars. That would slow them down and take away a huge amount of downforce and stability.
"bwp240" (bwp240)
03/24/2017 at 11:26, STARS: 0
That is the key issue. Stock cars are too large for the track. Even the DW12's you barely see going two wide through the corner. However, I think this brings a unique challenge over the cookie cutters.
It was a little better in the Gen4's as they were smaller and a bit lighter, but they still weigh significantly more than the Indy cars.
It looked in the past like NASCAR was trying to make an Indy high line which won’t ever exist. This slingshot thing will be interesting.
"bwp240" (bwp240)
03/24/2017 at 11:31, STARS: 0
Indeed, I do not know much about the driving of Xfinity cars. I know they are a bit less than cup cars. However, starving the inflow is not going to help with the desired slingshot effect NASCAR is looking for. If they do this completely wrong, you will end up with a two car tandem trying to pass the leader which will result in dive bombing into the corners and wrecking cars.
And yes, please bring back minimum ride heights. The racing was much better and it made setting up the car much easier (at least on the sim side).
"bwp240" (bwp240)
03/24/2017 at 11:33, STARS: 0
That would be different. SVRA had some NASCARs in the race and they ran the road course, it was certainly interesting.