Nascar: 2010

[Wayne Maybury]

Don I get the feeling that NASCAR is being very careful in how they comment on the spoiler versus the wing controversy. It seems like they do not want to appear to be admitting that they screwed up by going with the wing in the first place.

Wayne

[Ron61]

Wayne & Don,

I believe that with the current F1 set up, I would start on the hard compound tires while I had the weight to help with traction and then change to the softer compound after a certain amount of fuel was gone. You would be slower at the start than the ones on softer com[pounds, but they won't be as fast as they would with less weight and you could make up what you lost by staying out a few laps longer while they changed tires unless you were way behind.

As for the wing, I am happy to see it go. As someone stated in an earlier post, when they showed the wreck in slow motion you could see that wing kind of bend up which means it was lifting the car. Just sit next to a window over an airliner wing and watch it as they take off and climb. As for NASCAR admitting they made a mistake, never happen.

Ron

[Don]

From an interview @ Charlotte

Q: What do you think the chances, Martin, of you wearing white gloves in Bristol?

A: MARTIN TRUEX, JR.: No. I wear yellow ones

Mentioned earlier in this Thread, Edwards wearing white gloves which were visible on TV when he turned into Keselowski

[Don]

Wayne, regarding " NASCAR & The Wing " ( my quotes ) that you mentioned earlier. I do not recall when the wing was introduced if there was a very specific reason for a wing instead of a spoiler, other than the obvious attempt at straight line downforce. Just about every, if not 100%, of other race series uses wings, domestic or international, I think.

Not intended to be critical, but NASCAR's style of racing and the layout of tracks, along with close contact, which are strictly " racing incidents " , did not lend itself to the wing concept. Especially when the car gets sideways or is lifted off the track from unintentional contact.

Do not recall the exact numbers, but mentioned was a jet airliner achieves lift at approx 150 MPH

A few posts back I mentioned the cars with the wings are being tested in the wind tunnel , backwards. Would be informative to view these findings. An unknown is if the backward wind tunnel testing had been done prior to the introduction of the wing.

McLaren in F1 for 2010 is now channelling air thru the car and exiting over the top of the wing, driver controlled, appears other Teams will do the same. F1 also uses the shark fin concept that NASCAR will adopt.

[Wayne Maybury]

Ron
23 out of 24 cars in the Bahrain F1 race started on the harder tires. The problem with the softer tire is that while it does give better grip, it wears out more quickly. By starting on the harder tires and of course a full load of fuel, the thinking was that they could continue to run much deeper into the race and have more options as to when they would choose to pit.

By starting on the soft tires, they would have to pit earlier when it may not really be to their advantage. While the pit stop itself only takes 3 seconds, they estimate that the car loses about 20 seconds total time. Pitting early will mean losing several spots but pitting later in the race could possibly mean not losing a spot at all since the cars are more strung out. Finishing on soft tires and a light fuel load would also allow for very fast lap times at the end of the race when it is critical.

Don
Many F1 teams began to use that fin from the airbox inlet to the rear wing last year. The idea in F1 was to keep the air moving smoothly towards the wing by reducing turbulance.

As far as McLaren's new air inlet allowing air to pass through the cockpit before exiting in front of the wing, I heard that the idea was to disrupt the air flow over the wing on high speed straightaways thereby reducing downforce and more importantly, reducing drag at the same time. The airflow would be interupted by the driver pressing on some sort of air bag device with his knee, when downforce was required at lower speeds. Very innovative but the other teams all claim that it is illegal just like they did with Brawn's diffuser setup last year. F1 teams are always pushing the limits.

Wayne

[Don]

.....ought to be interesting for Sunday's race @ Bristol

Brad Keselowski has selected Tom Petty's song " I Won't Back Down " for his introduction.

No mention of Carl Edwards' having chosen a song . Any creative suggestions ?

" Of course, there's nowhere to hide at Bristol. It's a high-banked, half-mile bullring where even the most routine pass often becomes a multitry adventure. It's almost guaranteed that Edwards and Keselowski will find themselves side-by-side or bumper-to-bumper during Saturday's 250 laps and Sunday's 500. And it's almost inevitable that at some point during the weekend, one will try to pass the other, either for position or while overlapping.

And those moments are why the track in eastern Tennessee will attract upwards of 135,000 fans on Sunday afternoon. "

[Don]

Wayne, fyi, a very informative article:

" With the start of the Formula One season upon us, all eyes are on McLaren and its drivers, reigning world champion Jenson Button and former world champion Lewis Hamilton. But the attention isn’t exclusively on the champs. Everyone’s talking about the creative aerodynamics of the MP4-25 cars they’re driving.

Nobody outside the team is sure of specific details, but an ingeniously simple system allows Button and Hamilton to control the amount of downforce generated by the rear wing during the race. The wing has generated howls of protest, but the rulemakers at the Fédération Internationale d l’Automobile have approved it, so the cars are set to race Sunday in Bahrain. "

Complete Article:

McLaren Cribs From Planes, Flutes to Build Faster F1 Cars

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/mclaren-rear-wing/