If at first you don’t succeed, try again.
That’s the lesson this week as NASCAR looks to, yet again, curb its problem of racecars traveling at high speeds and rolling over.
The idea of a shark fin of sorts that would run down the right side of the drivers’ front windshields was floated this past week to a mixed reception. Some were happy that NASCAR was trying to fix the problems, and some (mainly drivers) voiced the obvious concern of a 2-in. tall piece of what is essentially plexiglass running down the right side of their windshields could affect visibility.
Naturally, NASCAR put it in reverse, and the result came in an announcement earlier this week.
Three distinct changes will be made to the cars this weekend in anticipation of high-speed crashes (this is Talladega Superspeedway, after all). First and foremost, a see-through roof rail has been added to the car that stands at about 2 inches tall along the right side of the vehicle.
The intended application here revolves around what happens when the car turns sideways at high speeds. With a taller roof rail, when the car turns to the left and spins in a normal direction, the air that gets shoved against the car will be pressing down much harder on the top of the car than it would without the taller rail. Think about a traditional spoiler: as air moves over it, downforce forces that portion of the car into the asphalt.
The rail will have small splits cut into it, known as bevels, that will allow a small amount of air to pass through the roof rail and onward to the next safety precaution: a piece of cloth.
Don’t laugh just yet. According to Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, NASCAR’s vp of vehicle performance, these modifications increase takeoff speeds at a 90-degree angle by about 25%. The cloth will be fastened to the same side roof flap as the new rail and will function with the same goal in mind. Instead of letting air pass through while activating the flap as normal, this new modification supposedly provides resistance to the air moving through and thus creates more downforce.
While this isn’t a new piece of technology (the left side of the car already has such a flap in place), NASCAR added the flap to this side to assist the car with downforce earlier in the spin.
The third addition is an extension to the rocker panel. To fans who can’t point one out on sheer sight alone, the rocker panel is…
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