NASCAR’s ‘Car of Tomorrow’ Not Much Wiggle Room BY PACK BRYAN NASCAR’s first full season with a field of decidedly different race cars is just getting started. Here’s a close-up look beneath the skin of one of NASCAR’s newest cars, and an explanation as to why the rule changes were made.

n March 2007, after seven years of development and testing, NASCAR premiered its “Car of Tomorrow” (COT) at the high- ment Center focused their engineering banked .533-mile oval in Bristol, and testing efforts for the COT on the TN. Many drivers had expressed principal goal of safety. It didn’t hurt disdain for the car before the race, that the new rules also led to significant Iclaiming it felt “top-heavy” and was hard cost savings for race teams. Because so to handle. Climbing out of the organiza- much of the car’s configuration is rigidly tion’s much-heralded new racer at the prescribed in the new specs, there is lit- end of its first race, the winner declared tle advantage (or need) to build differ- process: A thickness gauge certifies that how much he hated the vehicle. So ent cars for different tracks. There is far the metal thickness is compliant and a much for a grand entrance! Neverthe- less wiggle room. As a Wood Brothers/ coordinate measuring machine certifies less, the car has been a success. By the JTG team spokesman said, “Under the the proper location of the frame rails, end of the race, most drivers had faced old rules, you used to be able to color chassis tubes and suspension points. To- up to the fact that the car was what outside the lines once in a while. Now gether, the two devices take more than they’d be driving in the future. They put you can’t!” 220 measurements. 1 their objections aside and went to work The COT chassis are built from blue- Although the COT is 2 ⁄2 in. higher learning how to get the most out of it. prints provided by NASCAR. Once and there’s 4 in. more width in the Working with manufacturers and completed, they’re submitted for ap- greenhouse, NASCAR claims that the race teams, NASCAR engineers at the proval at the Research and Develop- car looks more like a production car

organization’s Research and Develop- ment Center. Certification is a two-part than the old race car. That will take an Gib Miller Photo:

28 March 2008 experienced eye to discover, for all cars In the past, the big teams often had 20 and Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, must meet the same dimensional specs or more cars in various states of readi- and still another pair for the short tracks for wheelbase (110 in.), body width ness in their headquarters garages. at Bristol, TN, and Martinsville, VA. Fi- (74.0 in.), body length (198.5 in.) and Smaller, less well financed teams had nally, there was a variety of what we height (53.5 in.). come to the point in recent years where might call “regular” cars for the many On completion of the inspection even they had to have more than just a oval and tri-oval race tracks that make up process, NASCAR attaches radio fre- few cars if they hoped to have any the rest of the NASCAR circuit. Drivers quency identification chips to nine chance of success throughout a 36-race had their favorites and constantly worked points on the chassis with a special holo- season. Starting with the basic require- with their crews to achieve a consistent gram tape to assure that the chassis has ment for a backup car for any given race, feel and driveability among all of them. been officially approved by NASCAR teams had found that there were enough Although teams struggled to make a and is ready to go to the . differences in car setups (and, some- car and its backup identical, there are times, even car shapes) that cars built always minute differences that take ex- specifically for certain tracks became the pensive track and shop time to mini- way to go. One pair was built for the two mize. Reduce the need for track-specif- high- restrictor-plate races at Day- ic cars and you cut costs by the barrel- tona, FL, and Talladega, AL, an- ful. If the same car was needed for two other pair for road courses races in succession, the problem of like Watkins Glen, NY, cleaning up and “freshening” it after the first race frequently was avoided by sending its backup car to the next event. This practice also worked well when two successive races were sched- uled at tracks located at opposite ends of the country. But you have to have enough cars and haulers to do that.

March 2008 29 NASCAR’s ‘CAR OF TOMORROW’

Teams sometimes experimented with discovery of a solution to a problem. In changes to the shape of the front end 2006, in an accident involving an outer and other parts of the body to achieve concrete wall, a protruding rebar real or imagined improvements in pierced the left door panel and badly in- speed or handling. But each time they jured the driver. NASCAR soon re- 1 did, there was a cost in bodywork, quired that a ⁄8-in. sheet steel barrier be painting and testing. That can’t happen welded to the roll cage on the driver’s anymore. Building the Car of Yesterday side. The driver’s seat in the COT has (COY) used to take four to five days. been moved 4 in. closer to the center of Now, for the COT, it’s down to three. the car, further separating him from the possibility of injury from side impacts. Building the Car The car body is molded of 22-gauge Of Tomorrow sheet steel, and energy-absorbing ma- Let’s see how the basic NASCAR racer terials are installed between the driver’s Photos: Pack Bryan Pack Photos: is put together. The days of pulling a car Special racing studs on the hubs side roll cage door bars and the door off the showroom floor, strengthening (here, front right) of a race car are panels. Actually, there are no door pan- the frame, welding a few roll bars in the longer than standard, with rounded els as such. Because doors were always cockpit, souping up the engine and go- tips and no threads on the outer half. strapped or even welded shut in the ing racing are long gone. early days, once the NASCAR racer be- The big changes began in the early the assemblies from specialized com- came a custom-made vehicle, doors 1960s as NASCAR grew and acquired panies like Hopkins Racing Enterpris- were eliminated, and the body became the authority to mandate what was nec- es in Spartanburg, SC. a smooth-sided sculpture from front to essary to make a car eligible for racing. The frame is made of 3x4-in., .093- back. It started with strengthening the A- in.-wall rectangular steel tubing. (The Each of the four manufacturers— frames, moving through the 1967 entry frame is doubled on the driver’s side Ford (Fusion), (Camry), of Ford Fairlanes with specially modi- in the COT.) The roll cage is welded (Avenger) and (Impala SS)— 3 fied front frames. A few years later the together using .093-in.-thick, 1 ⁄4-in.- provide their teams with nose and tail roll cage, welded to the existing frame, diameter seamless steel tubing for the pieces for the COT, usually molded of became an integral part of every car. main shapes, smaller for supports and fiberglass. The teams then build steel For several years before the COT, connectors. bodies to smoothly blend with those and now with the COT, race teams Today’s car has become a very sophis- pieces. The manufacturers also furnish started by constructing the basic ticated machine, the result of a progres- the hoods, roofs and deck lids. frame and roll cage, then wrapping sion of evolutionary steps. Safety has A device known as the “egg crate” re- the rest of the car around it. These been the reason behind virtually every places the many templates that were frames could be fabricated in team change mandated by NASCAR. In once used by NASCAR to assure that shops, but most have found it advanta- some instances, these changes have all cars met the specs for shape and size. geous to farm out that process, buying been made just a few days following the Some templates were used to assure

1 Steel rods tie the steel body panels to the roll cage of the Additional protection for the driver is afforded by a ⁄8-in. race car and prevent air pressure from deflecting the steel sheet welded to the outside of the roll cage. Note body sheet metal at high speeds on the track. the heavy steel floor and driveline cover.

30 March 2008 Fiberglass nose pieces are supplied by Ford for Wood Brothers cars. The photo on the left shows the pieces before finished shaping and priming. The photo on the right shows the car ready for early Daytona testing. When coordi- nated with adjustments to the COT’s elevated rear wing, the black front splitter can be adjusted 4 to 6 in. fore and aft, to easily tune aerodynamic characteristics to suit handling needs and driver preferences. that body shapes were in keeping with that covers most NASCAR racers. To intake manifold. The fuel used is 96 oc- the shape of the showroom cars whose save time and assure good looks, most tane GTX unleaded. name the racers carried. Others were teams use a giant decal to cover the By now it should be obvious that used to check that the aerodynamics of car, wrapping the whole vehicle in a there isn’t much similarity between the the car being inspected were within large plastic envelope. Here, too, NASCAR racer and its showroom coun- NASCAR rules. There were as many as there’s a time saving, as compared to terpart—no fuel injection, no overhead 32 different templates for various cars. priming, painting, numbering and at- valves and no hybrids. NASCAR makes Checking a car took time, and there was taching logos to the car. some fascinating compromises to pay always the possibility that a slight, possi- respects to the tradition and the image bly inadvertent, misplacement could let The Engine of the sport. Safety is the primary goal one car run and send another back to The COT’s engine is basically the same of rules and standards, but along the the shop. A so-called fudge factor was as its predecessor. The engine is a cast- way the rulebook is filled with a dictio- always present. iron 358-cu.-in. (max) V8 with alu- nary’s worth of anachronisms. With the COT, the egg crate assures minum cylinder heads that delivers 850 One specified component that’s prob- in one application that certain compo- hp at 9000 rpm, with a compression ra- ably closer to the stock cars of the past nents meet requirements for individual tio of 12:1. Torque is 550 ft.-lbs. at 7500 than any other is the carburetor, as com- car makes, and checks the key aerody- rpm. The one 4-barrel Holley carbure- pared to the now-standard fuel injection namic areas of the car. Lowered over a tor is mounted on a Ford or Edelbrock system on showroom cars. In another completed car, it can quickly show to the tiniest fraction if and where there are This Ford Racing deviations from NASCAR specifications. engine is about to Finally, cars are weighed to make be lowered into a sure they meet the 3400-lb. minimum, car. Note the standard place- with right-side weight at least 1625 lbs. ment of the alter- Camber limits are 2° maximum on the nator, water pump, rear and 8° on the front left. power steering With identical dimensions and after pump and, on the they have been covered with sponsor left, the heavy- logos, numbers and the decals of duty oil pump. On dozens of contingency prize sponsors, standard engines, individual car models can be difficult to the oil pump is lo- identify from the stands or while watch- cated inside the crankcase. The oil ing races on TV. Since they supply the pump on the COT noses, manufacturers have begun to see engine draws the benefit of simple, more recogniz- from a large, able front end and grille designs. After heated reservoir all, that’s why they’re racing. inside the car be- Incidentally, that’s not a paint job hind the driver.

March 2008 31 NASCAR’s ‘CAR OF TOMORROW’

The fuel cell holds approximately 18 gals. and is constructed with a strengthened bladder, thicker materials and a safer This is the exhaust system from a COT. Previous exhaust check valve. Fuel is filled through the large tube at the left, systems vented on both sides of the race car. To keep and vapor is vented through the corrugated tube in the heat and flames away from the fueling operation, the center. The cell is cushioned by honeycomb material as well. new system vents solely on the right side. bow to tradition, valves on a NASCAR ning at Daytona and Talladega feature a er from their engines, crews are re- race engine are pushrod-actuated rather different profile than those for a road quired by NASCAR to place a restric- than by more efficient overhead cams. course like Infineon Raceway. (Long tor plate between the carburetor and Building race engines has become a high-speed runs vs. short bursts require the intake manifold when they run on specialty. For example, Roush-Yates high torque.) Roller cams are not al- certain tracks. The plates are issued supplies Ford racing engines to several lowed in Cup racing, but they are in the and retrieved at the beginning and end teams, including their own and the Truck Series. When the engine has of each day of racing at both Daytona Wood Brothers’ teams. Ford provides been completed and is judged ready to and Talladega. NASCAR acknowledges the blocks, crankshafts, valve trains, etc., race, it’s checked on the shop dy- that the plates are a means of restrict- and the Yates factory assembles the fin- namometer for horsepower output. For ing the speeds reached at the two long ished engines. A new engine is dropped an engine rated at 850 hp, transmission tracks. Flat-out speeds could otherwise into every car before a race, and then and other driveline friction points typi- reach way beyond 220 mph. Giving up shipped back to Yates after the race for cally reduce that reading to about 780. horsepower is definitely something teardown and rebuilding. Interestingly, after working so hard race car drivers do not like to do. Camshafts in engines for cars run- to produce such impressive horsepow- continued on page 37 Photo: Gib Miller Photo: Above, demonstrates on a flow bench how simply smoothing the edges of the four holes in a restric- tor plate (mounted on carburetor at his right hand) can add 3 hp. The photo on the right shows how the openings compare to the size of the intake manifold ports. The sidebar on page 37 covers Wood’s storied past.

32 March 2008 NASCAR’s ‘CAR OF TOMORROW’

Shedding the Light(s) Leonard Wood: Father of the Fast Pit Stop Who needs broken glass? Certainly, no one on a race track, so those gleaming 3 7 he fast, 15-seconds-or-less pit draulic cylinder plunger from ⁄4 to ⁄8 headlights on the cars running in Tstop seen in today’s NASCAR in. in diameter enabled crewmem- NASCAR races are actually decals, each races has become the standard. Dur- bers to lift the corner of the car with matching the car’s real-life counterpart ing those few seconds, four wheels three pumps of the jack handle in shape and placement. There’s no are removed and replaced, and 22 rather than the previous 10. Pump- need for their light (nor the mounting gals. of fuel are added! What makes ing the handle took a bit more ef- hardware and wiring that comes with the action so remarkable is that all fort, but the time saved was worth this is done with old-fashioned tools it. These new methods knocked the them) when running in daylight or on and equipment. The 3800-lb. cars pit time down to about 25 seconds. well-lit tracks at night. The same is true are lifted off the pavement using a Later improvements included re- with taillights; their purpose is simply to hydraulic jack, five lugnuts are re- shaping the studs so wheels could be help with brand identity. moved from the hub, the wheel re- slipped on more easily. Then, ce- A 12-volt alternator, feeding a pair of placed and the lugnuts replaced menting lugnuts to the wheels and 12-volt batteries mounted for quick- and tightened. This happens at all putting springs in the sockets to en- change accessibility just forward of the four corners of the car, using just sure a quick engagement of the stud left rear wheel, supplies electric power one jack and two air wrenches. threads sped up the process even in the modern NASCAR racer. For In most other forms of auto rac- more. The studs themselves are now quick changeability, two coils and two ing, cars carry a built-in air jack pow- made with a smooth outer portion. ered by compressed nitrogen from This guides the lugnuts onto the ignition boxes are mounted on top of the pits, and wheels are held on us- studs’ threaded area, allowing super the dashboard, about where a glove ing a single “knock-off” nut, both fast changes during pit stops. compartment would be. great timesavers. In its bow to tradi- Just before being put on the hauler, a tion and image, NASCAR stays with The Venturi Effect car judged ready to race is placed on the old ways. NASCAR team leaders are compe- the surface plate—a large, heavy, pol- Enter the Wood Brothers. Glen tent and very innovative engineers. ished-steel platform that’s periodically and Leonard Wood headed what We received a good lesson in the checked for absolute flatness and ad- some called a super team, now in its Venturi effect from Leonard Wood justed to be perfectly level. Clearances 56th year in NASCAR racing. During while preparing this story. When a are checked to assure that the car meets the early 1960s, they were usually fluid or gas flows through a restric- the team to beat. Their record at tion into a lower pressure environ- NASCAR rules and is ready to race at Riverside, CA, speaks for itself—five ment, the velocity must increase as the destination track. consecutive first-place finishes from it flows through the restriction and ’64 through ’68. the Venturi effect causes the pres- Does the Car of At another venue, Ford asked sure to drop. (Carburetors use the Tomorrow Work? them to be the pit crew for Colin effect to suck fuel into an engine’s Although some people involved in Chapman’s Lotus Ford to be driven intake air stream, for example.) Sprint Cup racing were slow to buy into by World Champion To demonstrate how the Venturi the idea, everyone now agrees that Jimmy Clark in the 1965 Indianapo- effect can influence even minuscule NASCAR has succeeded with the COT. lis 500. Clark won the race and the changes in the air/gas flow into the Answering the complaint that the COT Wood Brothers’ pit stop techniques manifold, he demonstrated at his set new standards for pit stops. flow bench how simply rounding has IROC-ized NASCAR, with every- Well before the Riverside and In- the outlet edges of the four-hole re- one driving cookie-cutter automobiles, dianapolis successes, Leonard Wood strictor plate added 3 hp to the en- one longtime race fan said, “At the ball- had decided that speeding up the gine’s output (see photos on the park they’re all hitting the same ball, pit stops could gain valuable time bottom of page 32). NASCAR does aren’t they? So why the fuss? It’s a better on the track. In 1960, during the its homework and has outlawed such test of drivers!” World 600 at Charlotte, a fast pit “adjustments.” Restrictor plates are The year 2008 will be the first full stop to change two and add issued to competitors at the begin- season for the Car of Tomorrow (now fuel took 45 seconds for the Fireball ning of each day of racing or prac- the Car of Today). NASCAR manage- Roberts/Smokey Yunick team. He tice activity and retrieved at the end ment doesn’t like to be wrong, so ex- thought he could do better. of each day. They take no chances. To begin, he started using an air- Look at the Wood Brothers’ pect some quick changes—even dur- powered wrench, rather than the records over the years, and listen to ing the season—if the COT shows standard four-socket lug wrench Leonard Wood reminisce. The some weaknesses. We’re betting they that everyone had been using. Then names of many of the greatest driv- won’t have to. he focused on the hydraulic jack ers roll off his tongue as he tells sto- that lifted the corners of the car for ries of their adventures together Visit www.motor.com to download tire changes. Enlarging the hy- with a chuckle. He had fun! a free copy of this article.

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