Greening NASCAR - good for fans or bad?

[DavidVizard-GFN]

Greening Up NASCAR

Functional Progress or a Fan Disaster

By

David Vizard

Motor racing is always heavy on resources by it’s very nature. The question here is do we accept this in too unconditionally. Granted the biggest resource usage is not by the race teams but by the spectators. But this should not stop NASCAR setting economy examples where ever possible. The question is where can cuts be made without impacting the entertainment value of the racing? Let’s start with the factors that negatively impact performance.

The two principle enemies of performance are weight and aero drag. At some 3400 lbs a Cup Car must be among the heaviest of race cars in the world. Sure they have to be able to withstand some severe impacts but consider this - most crashes involve being hit by other cars as well as cars hitting the wall. For the same speed a lighter car running into another lighter car should not alter the crash dynamics to any great degree. A little more work with design and materials and I am sure we could get at least a couple of hundred lbs out of a Cup Car. For about every 100 lbs reduction in weight the engine displacement could be cut by 10 cubes. If the weight of the cars could be cut to say 3000 lbs an engine of 302 inches would deliver about the same performance in terms of power to weight ratio as we have now but be easier on fuel. More to the point it would also be easier on brakes and tires. But on the super speedways it’s aero drag the determines the competitive speed of the car. On tracks like Talladega and Daytona the power is restricted anyway so a smaller engine with less restriction should actually be a better deal.

Saving Fuel, Tires & Brakes

Stopping the mass of a current Cup Car especially on road courses is not the easiest of things to do. A lighter car would certainly help out here. Also we have seen a raft of tire blow-outs lately that just should not have happened. My solution here is to make one of the engineers ride around in a car while testing is being done. I can almost guarantee the incidents of blow out’s will drop dramatically. Regardless of that aspect for the size of tire involved a lighter car just makes everything that much better.

So for some weight and drag reduction we can have smaller cubic inch cars of identical performance but they would use less fuel and tires in doing so. They would also make better road racers in the process. So is this the end of the line in fuel saving – no. The fuel used by Cup Cars has sufficient octane to run a 13.5/1 CR instead of the 12.5/1 currently used. That little extra compression is good for about a 2% increase in output and about the same in terms of extra fuel economy.

Talking of fuel economy the engines are at their worst under yellow flag laps. This is not to say that they aren’t getting any more MPG but because the ignition systems used are not able to optimize the timing for minimum consumption during part throttle use there is more to be had than even the best teams are getting. Who knows maybe it is time for fuel injection. Sure NASCAR has held out against electronics on the cars for fear of such things as traction control and the like. But electronic fuel injection was used a few years back on ASA cars with some success so why not take another look at it here. The V8 Australian Touring Car Championship cars or Super Tourers as they are known are 302 fuel injected cars and that series puts on one heck of a show.

Saving Cars.

Have you ever thought what kind of resources go into the building of a typical Cup Car. It takes only a little thought and the extent of the investment in a single car will at least start to be evident. About half the crashes seen on the track result in half the cars involved being about a right-off. That also means that car is not racing at the finish and though the crash may have been spectacular it can detract from the entertainment value we see toward the end of the race. A fair percentage of crashes come about because the intent to enter pit road was not adequately communicated to the following drivers. With all the steel tubing and safety gear in a current Cup Car and the like there is so much clutter it is amazing that any hand signal given from within the car can be seen by any of the following drivers. Just think – a simple flashing turn indicator would fix that! But wait a moment – maybe NASCAR does not want to reduce the number of crashes. I can’t say I approve but I suspect more than the odd few folks are there to see the crashes. Makes you wonder how they might feel about it if it was their son driving. The bottom line here is the less cars that get destroyed the less the resources are used up. Talking of car production it seems that the number of COT machines so far built is hovering around the 2000 mark. Who would have thought?

Saving Races.

Have you ever wondered just how much revenue a track looses because it rains? In some instances the race sponsors only pay if the race happens on the day it was supposed to. Running a day late is a promoter’s nightmare. Also since a lot of the fans return it means the amount of fuel used by spectators to see the race goes up considerably. Now before I get to make my next point let me ask if you have ever watched a Formula 1 race that takes place in the wet? If you have then you will appreciate that as often as not the race is actually more fun to watch. That said I would ask - can we do the same thing for a Cup Car race? At first this sounds like a pretty scary deal but let’s take it a small bite at a time. Let us start by opening up road course events to running both in the dry and the wet. Doing so will really sort out the brilliant drivers for the just really good ones out there. Running a live axle car of the sort of power to weight ratio we are dealing with here is a practicality it just needs the right tires, a good handling set-up and there you go. After getting everyone acclimatized on road courses then we maybe should look at the shorter oval tracks and see if it’s a viable proposition on such. My thinking is this. The dirt guys race on slick mud with 850 hp cars so it is far from impossible. What it will do is bring the drivers with the most all around talent to the fore with less regard for the equipment they have. In fact we could end up with some unlikely drivers, such as Kenny Schrader, consistently running up front and watch out for Montoya. In an F1 car he was super fast in the wet.

Of course all this talk of wet races brings up the subject of traction control. There are going to be some drivers who want traction control legalized for wet races, I say no. Every car is potentially equipped with a traction control system – it’s called a driver with a brain wired to the right foot.

Now how about cutting the fuel use by spectators – this may have more impact on fuel consumption than all the moves made by NASCAR to make racing more economical. How about this – arrive with a car full of people and get a parking discount (concession voucher – rebate on next race ticket etc).
Now all the forgoing may be of some use or may not but one thing is for sure we all need to figure out how to save gas and anything else that needs crude oil for it to be produced.

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[seattle smitty]

I can't see where any of those ideas would hurt the racing or attendance. In fact, I'm guessing that some sensible "greening" would get positive reactions all around.

First, when the enviro-Leftists decide they can make points among the general public by shining a spotlight on the extravagant use of petroleum at motorsport events, we may be popularly and legislatively forced to adopt far more onerous changes than those you suggest. But if the various sanctioning bodies decide soon to be proactive, to adopt "green" measures of our own choosing, the racing community will be perceived as "getting it," as responsible citizens instead of just hell-raisers and noise-makers who have never grown up (which we are, but let's not confirm it!). In other words, take a little bad medicine now to avoid amputation later. We have lost too many tracks already.

But I've made that point before, so here's the new idea: I think that fans, sponsors, and racers will actually get into the idea of "greening," and even brag about it. Sure, we tend to be somewhat red-necked and scornful of such things as emissions controls on cars, mufflers on dirt-bikes, and similarly obnoxious civilizing mandates handed down by latte-sipping do-gooders who have never had grease under their nails. But even red-necks read the paper. We know we are spending the nation's treasure sending petro-dollars to the Mideast, and going into terrible debt to fight wars in the Mideast, largely about oil. We know our soldiers don't get weekends off to race, and are just hoping to survive another tour intact so that they can eventually come home.

DV, I submit that if your "greening" measures and others were put to the racing community in the above terms, they would be a surprisingly easy sell.