Tråd: Daytona 2011, Ekstrem Udarbejdelse

Vi alle ved udarbejdelsen, og især bump udarbejdelse, er en selvfølge for NASCAR. Men det, der var interessant ved dette års Daytona runde, den første officielle løb i sæsonen, var, at udkastet udviklet sig til, hvad der bedst kan kaldes tandem kørsel.

Først Lad os sætte scenen. Gå ind i 2011, er de grundlæggende spec chassiss nu parret til forreste og bageste fascias, som er mere relevante for deres producent. Dette hjælper med at gøre alle gør (Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford og Toyota) ligner mere deres gade bil inspiration. De legendariske high-bredden af Daytona modtaget et frisk lag asfalt. Men bilerne kom for hurtigt, så drøvling pladen var skaleres til at skære en ekstra 10 hestekræfter eller så-mere end hykleri, dvs.

Tilføjet, men det viste sig den hurtigste måde at gå i nærheden af tri-oval var bogstaveligt talt koble op med en anden bil. Det fik lidt latterligt, virkelig, som kommentatorer ved hjælp af dansende analogier.

I mellemtiden, her er nogle ting, som jeg tænkte på, mens jeg ser alt dette udfolde sig foran mig.

-Så der er to biler involveret, er en leder og den anden pusher. Dette er meget indlysende, men hvad er svært at forstå er, hvor lidt pusher ser og hvor meget personen skal har tillid til lederen og alle de observatører, der er involveret. Over team radio elskværdigt udlånt til mig af Penske/Pennzoil team, var jeg købedygtig høre chauffør Kurt Busch og hans besætning chef Steve Addington tale med flere hold som de regnede ud af, hvilken strategi at gøre. Der var øjeblikke var som du lytter til radioen, du indser, at lederen er faktisk kører to biler. Tillidsniveauet faktor og dygtighed er høj med en god leder/pusher par.

-Igen, noget, der burde være indlysende: når youre pusher, youre ikke udsætte din motor til en masse af kølig luft til at holde din motor på behagelige temperaturer. Fyrene på Penske gerne tro det er motorolie fra deres nye titel sponsor Pennzoil, der hjalp med at holde deres Dodge motorer kører godt selv når at blive brugt som en pusher. Vi vil ikke afvise det, især når Shell, Pennzoils moderselskab, går meget langt mellem deres Formula1, MotoGP, ALMISSE og NASCAR tekniske relationer til at maksimere deling af oplysninger.

We all know drafting, and in particular bump drafting, is a matter of course for NASCAR. But what was interesting at this years Daytona round, the first official race of the season, was that the draft evolved into what could best be called tandem driving.

First lets set the scene. Going into 2011, the essentially spec chassiss are now mated to front and rear fascias that are more appropriate to their manufacturer. This helps to make all the makes (Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota) look more like their street car inspiration. The legendary high-banks of Daytona received a fresh coat of asphalt. But the cars were getting too fast, so the restrictor plate was resized to cut an additional 10 horsepower or so–nothing more than lip service, in other words.

Added up, though, it turned out the fastest way to go around the tri-oval was by literally hooking up with another car. It got kind of ridiculous, really, as the announcers were using dancing analogies.

Meanwhile, here are some things that I was thinking about while I was watching all of this unfold in front of me.

- So there are two cars involved, one is the leader and the other the pusher. This much is obvious, but whats hard to grasp is just how little the pusher sees and how much that person must trust the leader and all the spotters that are involved. Over the team radio graciously loaned to me by the Penske/Pennzoil team, I was able to hear driver Kurt Busch and his crew chief Steve Addington speak with multiple teams as they figured out what strategy to do. There were moments were as you listen to the radio, you realize the leader is actually driving two cars. The trust factor and skill level is high with a good leader/pusher pair.

- Again, something that should be obvious: When youre the pusher, youre not exposing your engine to a lot of cool air to keep your engine at comfortable temperatures. The guys at Penske like to think its the motor oil from their new title sponsor Pennzoil that helped keep their Dodge engines running well even when being used as a pusher. We wont refute it, especially when Shell, Pennzoils parent company, goes to great lengths between their Formula1, MotoGP, ALMS and NASCAR technical relationships to maximize information sharing.