Quote:
Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
NASCAR specifies the chassis, the suspension, the brakes, the transmission, the carburetor,
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Brakes are not specified except that rotors must be steel (iron) and no more than 2 pads per caliper. Min. thickness of rotors for Busch and Truck. Wide open other than that. Brake systems are very sofisticated and modern - the best available as the series is the hardest on brakes on the planet including F1. The brake business in NASCAR is very competitive. Its where all the latest pad compounds come from as well as rotor and caliper designs.
Transmissions are not specked other than 4 speeds. There are some 3rd gear rules and a ring and pinion rule for some divisions to limit changes at the track. You would be amazed at the variations and sophistication within the transmissions (there are over 7 manufactures approved and they are custom built dog ring boxes with the same materials as F1 etc.)
The engines have as much or more engineering as any F1 engine – amazing but true. Key F1 engineers have crossed over to NASCAR.
At the end of the day, is it fun to watch on TV or at the track? Not for me.
What is interesting and fascinating is the support industry and the work going on behind the scenes – from fabrication, engineering, design, testing etc. plus all the business that support it. There are many small niche businesses that support everything from lug nuts to aero design. The industry is very large relative to racing. Over 600,000 lug nuts per season - two screw machines at full production. Thousands of wheels and lug studs as an example. You have to look deep to see a lot of it. There are over 24 lug stud lengths. Teams change lug studs to shorten then by 2 threads.
QUOTE][i]Even Top Fuel, the last bastion of wide-open racing[/B][/QUOTE]
Top Fuel - yes - But I think the real last bastion of wide open racing at the pro level is Off Road Trophy Trucks - Baha 1000 etc. Those things are unreal.
One of the ultimates has to be D Sports Racing but now the production cars are, I believe, creeping into that class.
"It's too bad there really can't be a DTM, or early Can-Am, original F-1, or even NASCAR style series anymore."
I could not agree more!
The Busch series is the best of NASCAR if you want to go to the track and garage area - much less stress, more open and friendly and still top people and talent. Less crowds and traffic too.
Most racing series are governed by a set of ambiguous and arbitrary rules - its how the talent on the teams work the system that is interesting and there is plenty of talent on the NASCAR teams today.
Ashley Page