Interesting testing At Dega tomorrow

H

HardScrabble

Guest
If I still lived close enough I would go watch this. Mikey was saying on IWC tonight that they were even talking about testing with the rear window removed. Whatever they test, here's hoping they find something that will work!

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR's latest round of Winston Cup aerodynamic tweaking will take place Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway, where as many as 15 teams may share the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

NASCAR and Daytona officials confirmed that teams had been offered a second day of open testing on Wednesday not counting toward NASCAR's limit of seven tests per season.
NASCAR vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter said among the configurations that NASCAR president Mike Helton, Winston Cup director John Darby and managing director of competition Gary Nelson planned to monitor were different spoiler heights.

They also plan to monitor front valance ground clearances, different body locations and a continuation of the "bigger greenhouse" program designed to enlarge the car's driver compartment.

Hunter said test runs would also be made with the smaller capacity fuel cells that were mandated over the weekend solely for the Oct. 6 EA Sports Thunder 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The ongoing test program is in pursuit of some solution to the clustered single-pack racing seen in recent years at Daytona and Talladega that competitors feel unavoidably results in "The Big One," or a violent multi-car accident.

Teams representing all four manufacturers were expected for the closed test, tentatively including Chevrolets for Bobby Hamilton, Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip; the Dodges of Bill Elliott, Ward Burton and Hut Stricklin; Ken Schrader's Pontiac; and the Fords of Dave Blaney and Geoffrey Bodine.

The Oldfield Grandstand outside Turn 4 will be open, as it usually is for test sessions, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
 
That sounds VERY interesting...Unfourtuanatley I live o about 20 hours from Dega!
 
who noticed that the title says Dega and the article is about Daytona?
 
LOL:D :D

Been messing with titles all day, but that was just a plain old brain fart!!!
 
Dang Scrabble,Now I gotta turn around,I was 1/2 way to Alb. :D If they take that back window out,would it not affect the flaps in the roof in case of a spin?
 
LOL, just keep going and adjust your vector for Fla. !!:)

I think no rear window would do all kinds of stuff, if a car got itself backwards with no rear window the roof flaps would probably be overwhelmed.

Ya gotta remember that little deal was Mikey talking on the TV, don't know if there is any validity to it or not.
 
Ya Scrabble,Mikey is a liittle like Eddie Haskell from Leave it to Beaver.You really gotta wade thru his info sometimes to get the whole truth.:p
 
The day someone shows me a Waltrip who has the faintest idea what he/she is talking about, I'll start selling space heaters in Hell.
 
I sure do hope that they can come up with something for Dega and Daytona. Anything that would allow them to take the plates off would be the way to go. Cause making the fuel cells smaller is NOT the way to go at Dega. I dunno who thought that up but they should be forced to run three wide for three hours straight cause that was a lame idea.
 
HS, any scuttlebut on the test results? You seem to have a LOT of resources so I thought you may have been able to dig something up.

PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR KAT
 
Not a word so far, . Someone who just went as a spectator might be able to give some insight into what they saw tested, but the results are for the moment only known to NASCAR.

But since it was not a closed test, I imagine we'll hear some rumblings later tonight or in the morning. Any decisions will be strictly rumors for a week or so.
 
From the Daytona New-Journal Online

Daytona 500 to get face-'lift'?

By GODWIN KELLY Motorsports Editor

DAYTONA BEACH -- NASCAR tested various aerodynamic configurations of Winston Cup cars Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway with the hope of making a significant rules change for the 2003 Daytona 500.

Ten teams, representing the four makes of cars that compete in Winston Cup, participated in the test session, which was cut short by a persistent line of thunderstorms that rumbled over the Speedway.

Gary Nelson, NASCAR's managing director of competition, directed the test that involved larger restrictor plates and lower rear spoiler heights.

"Our goal wasn't to come to Daytona and figure out a whole new rules package in one day," Nelson said. "Our thoughts were to study a different approach to this type of track. We asked the question: What happened if we had less downforce and a bigger restrictor plate where the drivers may have to deal with letting off the gas when they got into the corner? That was basically the concept and theory we were exploring."

With the current configuration of stock cars, drivers never have to lift off the throttle as they negotiate Daytona's 31-degree banking. The cars also run in a tightly bunched pack, which has led to several major multi-car accidents at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway, the two tracks where restrictor plates are used.

If drivers have to lift in the corners, that would help stretch out the cars and make restrictor plate racing a bit safer.

Nelson said Tuesday's test was aimed at creating a rules package for Speed Weeks 2003 and would not be used at Talladega Superspeedway's race in October.

"Talladega has bigger turns; the turns have a bigger radius," he said. "We're looking at Daytona as a separate set of issues. We approached this test as a Daytona test. The knowledge we got today is for down the road."

NASCAR plans to use a smaller fuel cell for the Talladega race with the hopes that more pit stops will help separate the field. The regular fuel cell measures 33 inches and holds 22 gallons of gas. The Talladega tank measures 20 inches.

"A few guys tried it (Tuesday) but it was not part of the test," Nelson said. "We did not run cars low on gas during this test."

Nelson said the proposed large greenhouse, which creates more room in the ****pit, was simulated by several teams.

"The big greenhouse blocks air to the spoiler and creates the aero effect that we could simulate very easily," Nelson said. "We got feedback that will help the large greenhouse project tremendously."

Tuesday's showers scrubbed NASCAR's plan to run the cars with the new aerodynamic configuration in a draft situation. Nelson said that part of the test would be rescheduled.

"We were looking forward to the drafting portion of the test to close the loop but we're very thrilled that we got this far," Nelson said. "At the same time, we were wishing we got the rest of the test in."

Ward Burton, Hut Stricklin and Kyle Petty were here testing under the Dodge banner. Chevrolet was represented by Jeff Green, Michael Waltrip and Bobby Hamilton. Dave Blaney, Geoffrey Bodine and Elliott Sadler were here in Fords, while Mike Wallace was in the lone Pontiac.

Burton won the season-opening Daytona 500, while Waltrip captured the Pepsi 400 in July.
 
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