On Feb. 18 , 2001 , stock car racing lost one of the men whose name was much synonymous with the sport itself –Dale Earnhardt , Sr . Earnhardt was coming out of the 4th play of the terminal lap of that day ’s Daytona 500 when his left rearward twenty-five percent panel was bug by driver Sterling Marlin . Earnhardt ’s ill-famed black number 3 Chevrolet skidded up the racecourse before it slammed into the wall at the top of the good turn .
By NASCAR standard , the wreck did n’t look too wicked . Neither Earnhardt ’s car nor that of driver Ken Schrader , who later barge in into him , went airborne or take in flack . But Schrader produce out of his car and walked away ; Earnhardt did n’t . The man known as the Intimidator die that mean solar day on the racetrack .
At the time , deaths were chivvy the variation . In 2000 , NASCAR drivers Tony Roper , Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin were all killed while cannonball along . The message soon became clear to NASCAR officials : The sport had to become safer .
In 2007 , several geezerhood of enquiry , examination and development come to realization in the form of the Car of Tomorrow ( COT ) , a completely redesign NASCAR race motorcar build with an emphasis on gadget driver safety and funnily enough , price - press clipping .
The raw car is slimly expectant , a flake less sleek , much less sensitive to impacts from other cars and more static at speed . All contending manufacturers – Chevrolet , Ford , Dodge and Toyota – practice the accurate same template to build up their race cars in decree to make the competition more equal .
In this article , we ’ll expect at the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow – how it was developed , why it ’s unlike from the previous blood line cars , and why , despite blow improved safety feature film , Dale Earnhardt ’s own son has been a rough critic .
Research and Development
It has been 10 since NASCAR ’s racers were just carrying into action - modified version of the cars you could purchase from thestockfound at your local trader showroom ( hence the term stock car ) . These days , aNASCAR slipstream carconsists of a steel underground frame cover up in a thin , tack - metal body and powered by an sometime - school , big - displacement V-8 railway locomotive .
The racing teams build the cars based on the specifications and guideline set by NASCAR . While the cars bear names like Impala and Fusion when they stand for producer like Chevrolet and Ford , the verity is , they ’re a world away from being anything like the machine you could purchase from the factory . Even the headlight are but decorative decalcomania .
The new cars have to weigh a minimum of 3,400 pounds ( 1,542 kg ) , with at least 1,625 hammer ( 737 kilograms ) of that weight on the right side of the railway car . Remember , that ’s the side that takes most of the punishment if it goes into a bulwark .
Development of the Car of Tomorrow took about five year . In that metre , it belong through a battery of tests including wind tunnels , computer simulations and of track , on - track testing .
The Car of Tomorrow first competed at the Bristol Motor Speedway in March of 2007 and was used in 16 races that season before running every race in the 2008 season . in the first place , the Car of Tomorrow was n’t schedule to be used full time until the 2009 racing time of year ; however , it was put into full - metre use a year other [ germ : NBC Sports ] .
The Car of Tomorrow looks quite a bit dissimilar from the previous competitors in the series . In the next section , we ’ll find out why .
Aerodynamics
When the Car of Tomorrow was unveiled in 2007 , shrewd racing fans knew right away something was unlike . The cars were noticeably grown , sported large despoiler on their trunk , and all of them – regardless of whether they were Dodges , Fords , Chevrolets or Toyotas – face eerily similar .
The new car is several column inch wider and tenacious than the old NASCAR airstream cars which were originally introduced way back in 1981 . It is also boxier , less aerodynamic and slower .
Wait a second – a race railroad car that ’s really slower and not as aerodynamic as its predecessor ? Does n’t that seem like the contrary of what engineers typically want to do ? Not necessarily . In this instance , NASCAR officials need a elevator car that is not only safe , but also easier to control .
One of the ways they did that was to add a divider to the lower sharpness of the front fascia . Asplitteris a horizontal panel that extends outwards from the bottom of the nozzle of the car to provide surplus downforce . A boxier body also foreshorten smooth flow of air over the surface . The upshot is a NASCAR race driver that is slightly slower and a bit more governable for the driver . They now average around 180 to 190 mph ( 290 to 306 klick per hr ) on the track , while the previous purpose was capable of well over 200 miles per hour ( 322 km per hour ) .
But one vantage to a boxier car mean there is more of an emphasis ondrafting– a classic NASCAR maneuver where a number one wood follows another car tight while it displaces the line in front of both fomite . At just the good present moment , the go after car can take full advantage of this abridge farting resistance and slingshot forward to go the lead car – sometimes for a backwash victory . The less aerodynamic shape of the Car of Tomorrow get a driver ’s drawing acquirement all the more important .
Up next , we ’ll calculate at how the motorcar of Tomorrow is charge the acting field for all teams competing in the NASCAR series – no matter of whether they ’re sporting Toyota or Dodge decalcomania .
Production and Standardization
With the origination of the Car of Tomorrow , the cars used by each of the different teams are much more standardized across the gameboard , prepare NASCAR more likespec racingthan ever before . Spec racing is a form of contender where drivers vie in nearly identical fomite . When every car on the track is prepared in the same way , the raceway becomes more about driver acquirement than technology and who has the most money to build the undecomposed race auto .
The Car of Tomorrow can also be control as a cost - lay aside measure for the vie teams . In previous years , NASCAR squad had to build up several different cars for thevarious trackson the NASCAR circuit . They built different motorcar for short tracks , route courses and superintendent - speedway . The Car of Tomorrow uses the same frame , axial rotation John Milton Cage Jr. and torso for all different types of race track . Of naturally , most teams do have more than one car ; mainly because there ’s always a fortune that the driver may ruin one during practice or passing .
But critics indicate that building the new machine was a multimillion - dollar bill investment for racing squad – as they had to discard all of their old cars in party favour of the new design – and they wo n’t actually profit from the decrease in cost for old age to come .
At the same time , many fans cope that stool the cars more or less the same takes aside from NASCAR ’s " run what you brung " days where a variety of vehicles step on it against each other . Many fans have said that they do n’t want to see a spec racing series , but alternatively want a race where there ’s a understanding a Dodge can beat a Ford , or vice versa .
In the next plane section , we ’ll canvas the primary intellect the Car of Tomorrow was developed by NASCAR : safety .
Safety Improvements
The goal of NASCAR ’s engineers was to establish a car that could stand up to more penalisation on the track than ever before , hopefully preserve some life in the cognitive operation . In April of 2008 , driver Michael McDowell take the air away from a distorted , flaming wreck when his Toyota Camry strike the wall at 180 mph ( 290 kilometers per hour ) and then go along to flip several times . Announcers at the Texas Motor Speedway on that day made mention of the improved refuge feature of speech of the new auto .
The Car of Tomorrow is design to allow for more place around the gadget driver . The cockpit is 2 inch ( 5.1 centimeters ) taller and 4 inch ( 10.2 centimeters ) wider , and the driver sits more towards the heart and soul of the car in club to increase the car ’s crumple zone . These crumple zones are designed to absorb the kinetic energy of an impact and , as the name connote , crumple during a collision . The main idea is to divert the energy of the impact away from the driver by allowing the structure of the fomite to absorb most of the force .
The windows are bigger , too ; a feature article design to set aside the number one wood to escape from the railway car more quickly . In gain , the doors are filled with several inch of stocky foam to help plunge shock . The driver’s - side door has steel - plat bars for the same use . Another technology onward motion within NASCAR ’s Car of Tomorrow : a more rigid driver ’s ass . The role is to better stand the drivers when they experience high gibibyte - military force [ origin : Murray ] .
The fuel cellphone , where the high - octane racing gasoline is stored , is now smaller . It take for about 17.5 gallon ( 66 cubic decimeter ) of fuel , down from 22 gallons ( 83 liters ) in the previous motorcar design [ source : FOX mutant ] . The cell itself frisk thicker wall , too . Less fuel and a thick tank means a reduced chance of a fuel leak and possibly a big fire .
Have all of these added refuge feature actually worked ? Has the new auto proven itself on the path ? Well , since the auto was introduce in 2007 , it still may be a little too other to tell . To particular date , the last somebody to die in a NASCAR race was Dale Earnhardt Sr . Perhaps the Car of Tomorrow can keep it that agency .
By now you understand that NASCAR ’s Car of Tomorrow is unlike . But how do the fan like it ? And why hasDale Earnhardt Jr.been so critical of it in the media ? We ’ll find out why in the next segment .
Reaction to NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow
Despite being a big leap forward in equipment driver safe , the Car of Tomorrow has been a intemperate sell to NASCAR ’s diehard buff base .
NASCAR fans have press out their displeasure of the Car of Tomorrow on many spirit level . Many do n’t like the increased size of the motorcar , the way it looks , the boxier frame , the reduced on - path amphetamine and the way the various competing manufacturers now go nearly identical machine . But the fans are n’t the only 1 complaining .
Drivers have criticized the car ’s handling . Many have complained that they have to re - learn their drive scheme at the same tracks they ’ve always raced on . Many drivers say the cable car does n’t turn nearly as well as the old one , and thataero push– an force of air flow ( or rather , want of downforce in a potation position ) that seemingly pushes a trailing car towards the wall in turns – is much worse than before , while the new car was supposed to resolve that job .
Dale Earnhardt , Jr. , whose founding father ’s death in 2001 spur evolution of the car , has been openly critical of it . " I think … the car is n’t a finished intersection , " Earnhardt tell in October of 2008 . " Whenever they decide to move forward and evolve and let that car change and become a better race car , we will be ready to do that . But until then , we really do n’t have a choice in the subject " [ source : NBC Sports ] .
Those who support the railroad car say it has placed keen emphasis back on gadget driver attainment . Others say that protect drivers ' life should be placed above an exciting race , and that a safe car is better for everyone call for in the sport . At the same time , Earnhardt and several other driver grant that the car is being improved gradually with each passing year . Plus , NASCAR has no programme of getting rid of it . It appear that the Car of Tomorrow is slated to be the cable car of Today for a long fourth dimension .
For more info about NASCAR and other NASCAR - related topics , follow the links on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
