C.O.T.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guido
  • Start date Start date
I think everyone has been doing pretty good since Nascar installed the safer barriers. Why mess with success
 
I thought the driver's side was a steel plate. The foam was only on the right side. And, with the exhaust pipes running near the foam it doesn't have to burn to get hot and give off noxious odors and smoke. Put a lighter near a stryofoam cup...see...smoke from the heat and it melts before it burns.
 
When the Car of Tomorrow debuted a week earlier in Bristol, several drivers – most notably 2003 series champ Matt Kenseth - complained of the foam padding in the right side of the door melting and releasing noxious fumes. NASCAR insisted that the cars that had problems with the foam had incorrectly installed, a charge Kenseth strongly denied. The foam problem reared its ugly head again at Martinsville, with the victim this time being #29-Kevin Harvick, who actually had it catch fire in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. “Smoke just started coming out the right-side door so I guess blaming it on something else is probably not the right thing to do,” said Harvick. “I mean this thing just started burning up so it's almost turning it into a joke now.” He was uninjured, and NASCAR has promised an investigation.(SPEEDtv.com) Jayski.com
 
NASCAR allows teams to remove part of foam
RICHMOND, Va. - NASCAR will allow teams to eliminate part of the square block of foam that sits inside the right door of the new Nextel Cup car of tomorrow in order to keep it from melting, according to teams at Richmond International Raceway for testing Tuesday.

Instead of having a square piece, teams can shape the foam, with a rectangular portion in the bottom left corner cut away from above the exhaust pipes. Teams were given a new graphic of how the foam can be installed.

Richard Childress Racing driver Kevin Harvick had a significant problem with the foam smoldering during Sunday's race at Martinsville and at one time had to exit his car because of the smoke. Other teams had issues at Bristol.

"Everybody is going to eliminate the pieces [of foam] that burn out, so I think we're going to put in some metal trays and stuff and not have the pieces over the pipes that were in there," said Harvick's crew chief, Todd Berrier.

The circumstances for Harvick were the most extreme of any other driver at Martinsville.

"It just got too hot," Berrier said. "We had the red flag, and we stopped the extra time because of the fuel-pump cable. Any time you stop, everything heats up more and more and more.

"We had to stop, and obviously that didn't enhance it any. A lot of cars had a lot of that stuff burn up, but not to the extent of ours."

Berrier is pleased with the adjustment NASCAR made.

"It's going to help matters a lot ... we just have to raise it up to get it farther away [from the pipes]," Berrier said.

The foam doesn't burn as much as it smolders. NASCAR says the fumes are not toxic.

"I don't think anything is non-toxic," said Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle. "There is a certain amount of toxicity to any kind of material burning."
 
kat2220 said:
"I don't think anything is non-toxic," said Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle. "There is a certain amount of toxicity to any kind of material burning."
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F***ing A right, Greg!

What a stupid statement by NASCAR.
 
Monday after Bristol, Denny Hamlin was still sick...
after the Doctors done blood work they confirmed he
had Carbon Monoxide Poisioning...Yeah, I'd say something needs
done for sure. :)
 
It seems all of you are quick to jump on this, don't forget this is only the second race for this new car. All the bugs and imperfections will take the majority of the season to get worked out. I'm sure Nascar will be on top of it, it's not like they can hide it from the public or the drivers, because they are very vocal about it. I beleive in the long run the COT will bring better racing to Nascar. The true test will be when we get to a track like Charlotte and see how it works during side by side racing. With the emphasis on safety being the key issue i can't help but think that Nascar will be very quick to address and kind of problem relating to driver health.
 
Mopardh9 said:
It seems all of you are quick to jump on this, don't forget this is only the second race for this new car. All the bugs and imperfections will take the majority of the season to get worked out. I'm sure Nascar will be on top of it, it's not like they can hide it from the public or the drivers, because they are very vocal about it. I beleive in the long run the COT will bring better racing to Nascar. The true test will be when we get to a track like Charlotte and see how it works during side by side racing. With the emphasis on safety being the key issue i can't help but think that Nascar will be very quick to address and kind of problem relating to driver health.
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I don't think you understand the whole concept surrounding this thread. This is not just a "bug." It is a serious safety issue that has the concerns of the drivers and the teams.

We are jumping on it because it is a safety issue that didn't exist with the present day car and Nascar is in denial.

They keep saying that it isn't a problem............ it is all the teams faults...........improper installation, not the right bolts, etc. etc............ but they won't admit that there is a problem with this material when it becomes overheated and it IS causing smoke and fires. They are doing what they always do........prtotecting their own asses. For once I would like to see them owe up to a mistake and stop trying to pass the blame to others.

The COT is their idea not the drivers and teams. They need to get busy and correct the problems like they ARE trying to do NOW. But don't try to BS people and say that the smoke is not toxic or act like this is just an isolated case. I beleive that all the cars have the potential to have this problem and it needs to be addressed without acting like their engineering is faultless.
 
Darby expect foam adjustment to fix melting problem

RICHMOND, Va. - The amount of foam removed from the inside the door panel of the cars of tomorrow is approximately 8 inches high and 23 inches wide and still leaves about 800 square inches of foam to absorb impact, Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said Tuesday night.

Although there had been about 6 inches between the area of where the exhaust pipes were and where the foam sat above the pipes, that was increased to about 14 inches with the new configuration.

"What we know is there was not enough clear space for air circulation in the right-rear lower quadrant of the door area to protect the components of the safety system," Darby said. "Essentially, what we did is we removed a very small piece of that block of foam and are installing a metal heat shield.

"This configuration moves the components of the safety system further away from the heat source, the heat source being the exhaust pipes. The other thing it does with the bigger area [of space] is allow for more air circulation to keep it cool."

Kevin Harvick had the most trouble with the foam melting during the race last weekend at Martinsville. Other teams had trouble the previous weekend at Bristol when their exhaust pipes broke. Teams that have had more problems have gone to thicker exhaust pipes.

Teams might have misjudged the amount of heat generated by the exhaust because the Bristol and Martinsville races were just the third and fourth events with unleaded fuel, Darby said.

"With the unleaded fuel, the exhaust temperatures are up overall," Darby said. "That is a contributing factor to some of the exhaust pipes failing."

Darby said he did not believe safety was compromised with removing the foam from that area of the car. He said most of the impacts occur toward the front of the right-side door area, where no foam has been removed.

Darby reiterated that there are no toxic fumes emitted when the foam melts. What drivers might be smelling he said is paint or other items in the car that also are burning or melting, he said.

As far as other issues with the car of tomorrow, Darby said that three of the eight cars inspected after the race at Martinsville were below the original rear decklid target tolerance of one-quarter of an inch but all were within the new one-half inch tolerance that NASCAR has set as a goal.

NASCAR will continue to measure cars after races to determine the exact tolerance before it will set a firm rule.

Darby also said he was pleased with how the four cars (two from each race) have looked in inspection on Mondays as far as how little bending and twisting of the frames occurred during the races.
 
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