Nascar
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Nascar
The three components of nascar are safety, the car it’s self, and the engine.
Without these things nascar would just be a death filled destruction derby.
The object of nascar is completing a set number of laps around a track
without crashing and finishing first.
The seats in a stock car have to be as modern as any other part of the car. The seats are molded to fit each driver and are molded tight sot that the driver do not move around when going around corners. After the seats have been molded they are fitted with cushions and a five point quick release safety harness made of heavy duty nylon webbing (Hester, 20-21)
The aerodynamics of a stock car is very important in contributing to the car’s speed and stability. The first step in building a NASCAR car is the computer generated design; NASCAR sets the standard that each team builds the car around. Next is the steel; the steel is used to form the basic skeleton of the race car. The third step in building the car is building the chassis and roll cage. (146) The engine housing is also formed in this process. Step four consists of installing the firewall which is composed of thick steel plates that separate the engine from the driver. A metal roof is
also added along with rear wheel wells. Metal fabrication is next five. This is where the rounded fenders, hood and trunk are made. These elements are made from sheet metal and bent precisely to create maximum aerodynamic performance. The final step of building the car is painting and installing decals. (Hester 22-23)
Drivers make the cars but the engine is what makes it fast These eight cylinder V8 engines can produce up to 800 horsepower this is about four times as much as your car in the parking lot. The NASCAR teams have strict rules to follow when they build engines, but its tuning that makes each engine different (Hester 24-25). The car engines work by turning the crankshaft. The crankshaft in a NASCAR car is able to withstand 8000 revolutions per minute which translates into 150 revolutions per second. On some super speedways the horsepower is to much and the speed is to fast. In order to address this problem NASCAR has designed restrictor plates that are square shaped and go between the carburetor and the intake manifold to constrict air and fuel flow. Each racing team can bring as many engines to the track as they want in case of an emergency such as a blown engine.
Tires are what keep the cars on the track. If you have ever watched a NASCAR race you will always hear the announcers talking about the importance of tires. The life of a tire during a NASCAR race is about fifty laps before being changed to newer ones. The tires on a NASCAR car do not have tread like the ones on your car. They are flat and smooth. When going 180mph the tires get very hot and sticky which in turn helps the car stay on the track. When tires do need changing during a pit stop to men are assigned
the front and back tires on each side. Each tire has 5 lug nuts that are semi glued on to make screwing them on as easy as possible. The men use impact wrenches and can be removed in about two seconds. At the end of a race the driver usually does doughnuts to celebrate a victory and inn most cases burns holes in the tires because they are only 1/8 inch thick.
In sports and athletes like the top of the line clothing and equipment, NASCAR is no different. Driver’s helmets rank the highest in safety features. In early racing the helmets almost looked like hardhats but now they are circulated with fresh air and have built in radios for communication. The helmets today are built of heavy duty plastics and Kevlar. One important feature is the HANS device. (Head and Neck Safety) When Dale Earnhard died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 he was not wearing this device when he hit the wall going over 180mph and his neck was instantly broken from the impact with the wall and he died instantly. The HANS device connects the helmet and uniform to the seat to form a cocoon of protection. Drivers wear gloves that are covered in a fire resistant material called NOMEX. The suits that the driver wears have all the sponsors’ names on them. Under the suit the drivers the drivers wear all fire resistant nomex under armor, the long sleeve shirt has a high collar to protect the neck. Under the long NOMEX pants are special socks. These socks are made of a material called carbon X, these socks will not melt or burn in extremely hot conditions.
The shoes are made of a light weight material and have thick rubber soles. Since the driver’s feet are so close the firewall they absorb all the heat.
Drivers wear a heat shield on their heals to protect the heels from the heat that is generated during a race. All of this technology is focused on keeping the driver safe and to help them focus on winning the race.
Now that we have built the car and suited up it’s time to race. There are four different types of tracks that NASCAR uses. The four tracks are; super-speedway, standard oval, short-track and the road course. In this year’s season there are 20 different tracks that the drivers will race on. Some tracks are raced twice and even three times a season. In all tracks except road courses there are four turns. On the track there are white lines indicating the transition between the turns. The tracks are also designed to be safe. They have a safety barrier between the two walls to absorb the impact of the car hitting the wall. You might ask your self if the cars can race in the rain and the answer is no. The track gets two slick and the tires do not have tread to help stick to the track. The other reason is the cars do not have windshield wipers. The longest track is the NASCAR Circuit is Talladega at 2.66 miles around. Super-speedways have to be at least on mile around and the shorter tracks are less than one mile. The shortest track in NASCAR Bristol and that a half-mile track.
Since teams move from track to track they take their garage with them. In the “carriers” or eighteen wheelers. When the teams get