NASCAR safety

[JerryF]

I keep thinking about how easy the cars seem to flip when hitting the walls at Daytona. I don't mean when another gets into it -- just a single car hitting the wall (like Newman's on Monday.) After hitting with the front right first, it spun and hit with the left rear, and it looked like it "dug in" inducing the flip. Is this a safer wall thing? Do cars tend to bounce more off of safer walls?.

Of course it can't be compared with cement walls and the cars of today, or what the car from 15 years ago would do in the same situation and maybe there's nothing to it. I wonder if tapering the wall inward, starting a couple feet up, to the track...?

I know this probably sounds silly, but maybe it's better to get hit like Newman did (near the drivers door) than if his car had all four wheels on the track?

Just "speculating." ( ͡• ͜ʖ ͡• )

 

[StandOnIt]

I keep thinking about how easy the cars seem to flip when hitting the walls at Daytona. I don't mean when another gets into it -- just a single car hitting the wall (like Newman's on Monday.) After hitting with the front right first, it spun and hit with the left rear, and it looked like it "dug in" inducing the flip. Is this a safer wall thing? Do cars tend to bounce more off of safer walls?.

Of course it can't be compared with cement walls and the cars of today, or what the car from 15 years ago would do in the same situation and maybe there's nothing to it. I wonder if tapering the wall inward, starting a couple feet up, to the track...?

I know this probably sounds silly, but maybe it's better to get hit like Newman did (near the drivers door) than if his car had all four wheels on the track?

Just "speculating." ( ͡• ͜ʖ ͡• )

Nascar is the opposite of an airplane. Airplanes are trying to create lift, Nascars are trying to create downforce at speed. Much like an airplane when it turns sideways it isn't designed to do that. Nascar has hood, roof and trunk flaps that raise when a car rotates to help with the ability to keep the car from flying and to their credit they had a couple of accidents in the race where everybody stayed down, but Newman started from the inside to the outside wall and he had some speed built up in addition to rotating when he hit.

 

[Magnethead]

The bounce thing is entirely plausible. We know tire barriers throw a car back out on the track (see: Watkins Glen), and while a SAFER barrier doesn't have near that amount of plasticity, it will push back and rebound to some amount.