NASCAR's 'hood' and 'decklid' shortage

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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An interesting story on the lack of parts for the 2013 season. It seems like they should have it rectified soon enough as long as Dale Jr. perfects the new bump drafting techniques. There's also word out there of a Steven Wallace reentry into the sport. :eek:

Teams are scrambling as they try to build cars for the 2013 season, with the words “hood” and “decklid” making crew chiefs cringe.

NASCAR decided late last year that it would switch to carbon fiber hoods and decklids for the new car. Each manufacturer is producing its hoods through a vendor (it is considered a piece that must come from the manufacturer) while NASCAR decided that all decklids — the only piece of the bodies that are the same for each manufacturer — must come from the same source.

But getting those pieces has been a challenge for teams.

“We started production of the decklid in mid-December,” Bennett said in an e-mail. “Production has been on a steady ramp up since we started. … We know the teams need decklids ASAP to provide ample time to get their racecars built for Daytona and races that follow.

“For the moment, we are following NASCAR's lead on production targets and releases to teams. Our production has steadily increased from 12 decklids on week one to our current 50-plus per week.”
Bennett said the company is working around the clock six days per week (three shifts a day) and expects that type of production through February.

NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said that up until this week, the decklids were being distributed equally among Cup organizations no matter how many teams each organization had. Starting this week, decklid distribution is based on the number of teams the organization plans to field in 2013.

With approximately 100 decklids being produced every two weeks and about 35 full-time teams, that means those teams would get about three decklids per organization every two weeks. The decklids are the same no matter the type of track teams run at, so teams don’t need different ones for different tracks.
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Much more on this here.
 
nascar sure screwed this one up. Nice Jr. referance there. I'm sure Geta will enjoy that.
 
Nascar could always say 'run what you brung' until any shortage has passed.
 
Personally, I think the whole story is overblown. There's more than enough time for the hood and decklids to be made and distributed. I think the statement by the teams that it is slowing production is BS too. These are all to be identical. They know the measurements. Build the damn car and bolt the pieces on later when provided. Seriously, they can't start work on a car because they don't have a hood, yeah right. :rolleyes:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Personally, I think the whole story is overblown. There's more than enough time for the hood and decklids to be made and distributed. I think the statement by the teams that it is slowing production is BS too. These are all to be identical. They know the measurements. Build the damn car and bolt the pieces on later when provided. Seriously, they can't start work on a car because they don't have a hood, yeah right. :rolleyes:
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I'm glad to see I got thru to you. ;)
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Personally, I think the whole story is overblown. There's more than enough time for the hood and decklids to be made and distributed. I think the statement by the teams that it is slowing production is BS too. These are all to be identical. They know the measurements. Build the damn car and bolt the pieces on later when provided. Seriously, they can't start work on a car because they don't have a hood, yeah right. :rolleyes:
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10-4
 
Magnethead said:
Here's what I don't get.

It's 5 freaking pounds difference.

JUST PUT THE DAMN METAL ONES ON FOR NOW!
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Good idea. Just make some metal lids and stop crying already. Maybe these teams just used it as an excuse to avoid wrecking 2 cars at the crash and bang test.
 
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