Stockcar Engineering

Issue 09 Spring 2013 www.racecar-engineering.
com/stockcar
Generation 6
NASCAR steps into the future
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF
RUNNING HEAD
tockcar racing changed forever on one chilly Saturday night in February in 2013. As the pace car peeled off at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Unlimited race at Daytona the Generation 6 cars made their long awaited debut, but thats not what has changed. As the green waved, not one of the crews knew what type of pit stop they would have to make at the end of the first 30-lap segment. Indeed it was the fans who would decide. They were given the chance to vote online or via a smartphone app about whether the cars would make a a four-tyre pit stop, a two-tyre pit stop or no pit stop at all. Indeed everything about the race would be decided by online voting, and while it may seem to be a gimmick, this fan involvement is crucial to the future of the sport. The Sprint Unlimited ran in front of largely empty grandstands, a problem that has become an increasing trend in stockcar racing as spectator numbers have dwindled. NASCAR has realised that it needs to appeal to a new generation of fans, and that means going digital with races streamed online, open information and fan interaction using social media. This all has a knock on impact on the engineering aspects of the sport. Lets not forget what made the guys at NASCAR Marketing realise how important this digital stuff is; a single picture tweeted out by Brad Keselowski during the seemingly endless 2012 Daytona 500. It was not an especially good, or interesting, picture but the reaction of the fans was huge, as the bored driver replied to fans from the cockpit of his stationary Dodge, more than 100,000 people added his feed. But something was bugging me. Why did Brad have a smartphone in his car anyway? Its not like he was going to use it to call the crew to get instructions. He had a radio. When you think of what makes up a modern smart phone you start to realise that they are all fitted with pretty good GPS, accelerometers, gyroscopes and in some, like the new Blackberry Z10, they come with a Magnetometer. In a tightly contested series, where in race data acquisition is strictly outlawed, the data that could be derived from smart phone could be that crucial unfair advantage. Indeed, it could easily be streamed realtime to a similar device or laptop back in the hauler, giving the crew a rudimentary form of telemetry. At Daytona, NASCAR took no action over Keselowskis usage of the phone in the race, perhaps because it was great publicity for the series. Another possibility was that Brian Helton and his squad had not yet figured out what these devices could do. By the time Keselowski arrived at Phoenix for the penultimate race of the series, the technical inspectors had got wise. He was hit with a $25,000 fine and placed on probation for carrying his phone in the car. Did it make a difference? Perhaps that will come out over time, but a single $25,000 fine is irrelevant when you consider that Keselowski took the Sprint Cup at the following race. Phones are small and, short of patting down every driver, you have no chance of finding them. In tech inspection NASCAR never looks inside the radio housing. It would be easy to hide at least the functionality of a smartphone in that box and it remain undetected. As NASCAR Marketing has had to change its thinking to deal with a post digital revolution, so do engineers and NASCAR R&D.
NASCAR has realised that it needs to appeal to a new generation of fans through social media
CONTENTS
4 NEWS
NASCAR looking to the future with digital dashes, lasers in tech inspection, and Ferrari to go stockcar racing?
NEW LOOK NASCAR

How the Generation 6 Sprint Cup bodwork was developed with the help of the four manufacturers
14
WONKY WHEELS
As well as new body styles, Sprint Cup teams are now able to run far more camber on the new cars
16
EAKERS PLACE
The Aerodyn wind tunnel in North Carolina was instrumental in the creation of the Gen 6 cars
20
UNFAIR ADVANTAGES
A new gearbox from the UK, Microsoft teams up with Toyota, a golden heatshield and 3D printing
26 27
THE TWO CAR TANGO

Simulating two car drafting
LUBRICATION
How engine oil will help some teams race to the front at Daytona, Talladega and Indianapolis
28
OPINION
Chassis consultant Mark Ortiz discusses setup on dirt tracks and Ricardo Divila learns to cheat
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Sam Collins
Editor
NEWS
Generation 6 could open the technological floodgates
Advanced technology is set to change the face of stockcar racing, as NASCAR modernises its racing series. Digital dashboards and substantial engine changes are on the horizon according to many in the garage. You look at where consumers are today theyre getting younger and attention spans are getting shorter, said NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations Steve ODonnell, so we know its imperative for us to innovate every day. Were looking at the dashboard in each of the cars and how we could bring technology into the cars. We are working with our partner Sprint to do that in a smart way and utilise Facebook, Twitter whatever it may be thats out there to bring in a younger audience and use the technology, because at the end of the day we feel like weve got the best story to tell when it comes to technology and involving fans, so whatever we can do in that realm, were going to go after it. I think youre going to see a heavy emphasis on that in everything we do moving forward. The arrival of EFI last year was widely seen as a first step on a road that will eventually lead to the cars using smaller capacity direct injection V8 engines in future. Restrictor plates are also thought to be on the way out as the McLaren ECU can fulfil the same role electronically. It is thought that cars running prototype digital dashboards will run at some point in 2013.
STOCKCAR NEWS
New manufacturers considering NASCAR

New nameplates could appear in Sprint Cup in future, according to a senior NASCAR source. Porsche, Audi, KIA, Jaguar and Honda have all been rumoured to be evaluating participation in stockcar racing, but so far none have confirmed a programme. Occasionally well get a cold call from another manufacturer, and well sit down and talk to them, says VP of Competition at NASCAR Robin Pemberton. We explain how things work and what our garage area is and how it exists and what we expect out of manufacturers that come in. Im sure theres some that are taking a serious look at moving forward, but there shouldnt be anything new for, say, the next year or two. Dodge has hinted on more than one occasion that it may well return to Cup as early as 2014, subject to finding the right teams to partner with.
STOCKCAR NEWS
Company, Sullair and Ring Power CAT also provided equipment during the testing, and will be part of the track-drying process at Daytona during Speedweeks. For the immediate future, jet dryers and vacuum trucks will continue to be used during trackdrying efforts. The next evolution in the innovative technology will be to optimise the power source, but it is clear that the new system is very much a prototype and its use will be limited initially. I think we want to see how it goes, says ODonnell. Keep in mind that this has never been tested during a race or during full rain conditions at a track, so weve still got some work to do once we see it, if we do see it in play, and well learn from there and make sure weve got the best model going forward possible for other tracks. I think if everything works where we see it going in the future, you could see jet dryers being a thing of the past. You could see the model of tracks that purchae jet dryers they could now purchase the Air Titans and have their own air supply at each track, because obviously they host more than just NASCAR events.
NASCAR develops new track dryer in-house

NASCAR has a weakness, a force of nature it struggles to overcome. That weakness is rain and sometimes even snow. But for 2013 there is a new weapon in the war against the weather. Less than eight months ago, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France tasked the team at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, NC, with developing a means to shorten the delays caused by rain by 80 per cent. The first result of this project was revealed at Daytona ahead of Speedweeks: the Air Titan track drying system. If you can get past the somewhat over dramatic name the new device is in essence a giant Dyson air blade. The system basically works by having compressors feed air at a high rate of speed through a hose to the Air Titan modules, explains NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations Steve ODonnell. It is able to blow air in narrow, highly pressurised sheets over the race surface down on to the apron, and then on the apron weve got a regenerative air vacuum truck, which obviously absorbs the water, and then well have jet dryers behind each cycle, well have five of those, that will move at a rate of speed at approximately 3 to 5 miles per hour. It is important for them to maintain a consistent speed. As part of the Air Titans testing process, NASCAR enlisted the expertise of the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) in Auburn, Alabama, International Speedway Corporations track construction group, Racing Surface Technologies and QualPro Inc. Additionally, Elgin Sweeper
Laser-guided tech inspection has bumpy start

NASCARs new laser platform for technical inspection did not make the best debut, with the system failing during its first real world usage. The new system has been introduced along with the new Sprint Cup cars in order to ensure teams stay on the right side of the regulations. A lot of the gadgets and trickery we had going on underneath the back ends of the cars the sideways stuff will be much easier for us to control, said NASCARs John Darby. The platform, which was developed by NASCAR with the help of some outside sources, does not provide a scan of the car body, instead it details components on the underside. It will position the car exactly to check the location of various components. The way it does that is that, as the car rolls up on to the platform, it will identify the car from one of the RFID chips that was put on it at certification. It will then go through the entire database of all the cars that have been certified, find that car, pull the certification file, look at it and position the car on the platform exactly in the location that it was certified, Darby explains. Where it excels is that the process erases any doubt by providing more exact measurements, he said. In the past we used probably 10 different gauges or pieces of equipment to do the same measurements that the platform does, especially when they are put on at two separate stations. Wheels are turning, cars are getting pushed you dont have a guarantee. We felt pretty good about where we were, but this eliminates any questions. A back-up system was employed at Daytona after the laser platform failed, though it was put back in place ahead of the 500.
STOCKCAR NEWS
Ferrari stockcars in England?
Europes leading oval racing category is evaluating its own next generation cars. The NHRPA National Hot Rods could use sportscar bodies in place of the current hatchback and coupe designs currently racing. No manufacturer is prepared to put the investment in for new National Hot Rod body shapes, series owner Deane Wood said. Theres no guarantee that when youve put anything up to 40,000 investment in to come up with a new body, that youre going to have a car that beats whats already out there the Tigra so why would you?
The Mazda RX8 could be the first of the new breed of stockars
Ive got hold of a Ferrari that we may use to build a car up from. I think weve got to do something to change the formula a bit, and get the kids excited about the cars. Like Ferraris and Porsches exotic cars racing on a stockcar track. Were not doing anything about it yet, the climate is wrong at the moment. But I could easily see 2-litre Hot Rods [the NHRPAs equivalent of the Nationwide series] being the ordinary cars and Nationals being the supercar class. Chassis builder SHP has released a concept rendering of what it feels the new cars could look like, based on the Mazda RX-8.
The latest Race Moves

John Monsam has been hired as crew chief at Tri Star Motorsports, replacing Wes Ward for driver Eric McClure in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Monsam last worked for McDonald Motorsports and has previously acted as crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc, Roush Fenway Racing and Kevin Harvick Inc. Adam Stevens will be crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing for driver Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the announcement coming after Busch was signed to a long-term contract extension. Chris Gayle former team engineer for Buschs Sprint Cup team at JGR has been promoted to crew chief for a third JGR Nationwide team driven by Elliott Sadler. Chris Rice has been named crew chief for rookie driver Alex Bowman at RAB Racing, Rice served in the same capacity for RABs NASCAR Truck Series team in 2012. Mike Bumgarner has been hired as crew chief in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at JR Motorsports for drivers Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet. Greg Ives has been hired in a similar position for the Chevrolet, driven by Regan Smith. Both crew chiefs are former Hendrick Motorsports personnel. Steve Bowyer, who has returned to a position outside racing for the second time. Long-time Penske Racing technical director
All Gen-6 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars will have the car manufacturers logo on each side of the windshield to further give brand identity
Mike Hester has returned as crew chief for Ricky Benton Racing Enterprises and driver Scott Riggs in the NASCAR Truck Series for 2013. Hester had a brief hiatus due to ill health. Also in the Truck Series, veteran crew chief Gary Cogswell has joined T3R2 Motorsports as crew chief for driver Brian Silas. Chad Walter has been hired by Michael Waltrip Racing as director of race engineering for its three Sprint Cup teams. Walter left his post as crew chief at Penske Racing for driver Sam Hornish in the Nationwide Series. Walter was replaced by Greg Erwin at the end of 2012 and replaces Tom German has departed the company to take the position of chief technical officer at MWR. Current MWR technical director Nick Hughes will be moving back his native Australia at some point during the year following five years at MWR. In addition to the drivers name in the centre shade band area of the windshield, all of the Gen-6 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars will also have the car manufacturers logo on either side of the windshield in an effort to further give brand identity. Team owner Tommy Baldwin will return to a crew chief role within his two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup team and will serve in that
position for Dave Blaney. The team also hired long-time Hendrick Motorsports employee Charlie Langenstein as competition director and Joe Lax as crew chief for driver JJ Yeleys Chevrolet. SR2 Motorsports is growing its Nationwide Series operation purchasing its neighbour in Mooresville, North Carolina MacDonald Motorsports. The Toyota team will become a three car operation. Driver/owner Joe Nemecheks NEMCO Motorsports has joined forces with Jay Robinson Racing, combining efforts to field Toyotas in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series driven by Nemechek and with engines leased from Race Engines Plus. Bill Romanowski, a veteran 16 seasons NFL player, has become a minority owner of the Brandon Davis owned Swan Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Romanowskis dietary supplement company, Nutrition53 will also be the primary sponsor of the David Stremme driven Toyotas in 10 races, and have an associate role in the remaining 26 events.
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SPRINT CUP CARS
The sixth Generation

Following a raft of well-received rulebook changes, NASCAR hope a new look and renewed relevance will make 2013s Sprint Cup cars a huge hit both on and off the track
t is probably the first time that the NASCAR rulebook has been influenced by an Australian touring car championship, but the new look Sprint Cup cars were introduced as a result of GM executives work in V8 Supercars. Mark Reuss, now president of General Motors North America, served as managing director of Holden from February 2008 to September 2009. When Reuss returned to GM in the United States, unifying the brand identity between the Cup car and a street car was at the top of his to-do list. He met with NASCAR president Mike Helton and NASCAR principals Lesa France Kennedy and Jim France. The agenda featured only one item: a new car. The first thing I did when I came back from Australia was to sit down with Mike, Lesa and Jim, said Reuss. The racecar had little to do with an Impala. The car before that had little to do with a Monte Carlo. We hadnt been doing this right for a long time. While GM never threatened to quit the sport, the writing was on the wall, according to team boss Rick Hendrick. I think Mark Reuss said that if we cant be relevant, we
dont race, he said. So we had a lot riding on that. I think thats when everybody started talking, along with Ford and Toyota. But Mark pushed the button with NASCAR, and Im glad he did. Its sure paid off. Indeed, Reuss was not alone. The Car of Tomorrow (aka Generation 5) was an ugly thing. This was the sentiment that was almost universally held from the moment NASCAR introduced it in 2007. It became even more apparent when a new, better looking version of the concept was rolled
out for the second tier Nationwide series in 2010. It was clear that something would have to change. Once we got the Nationwide car finished, everyone looked at it and realised that we could build a better looking, more representative Cup car, explains Howard Comstock, manager of engineering for Chrysler Groups Street and Racing Technology Motorsports division. The Car of Tomorrow was a huge technological advance. They were a lot stronger, safer, and many things about it were better. But it was not a good looking racecar in any shape or form and, quite frankly, it turned the fans off. We needed to get the fans back on our side. The proportions, in my opinion, were not good, and were not representative of current passenger car design. For example, I dont think the roof was anywhere close to being racecar-like and the C-posts were splayed to keep air off the spoiler, which hurt our ability to move the tail forward. All of the manufacturers were unhappy with the almost total lack of brand identity on the Cup cars. Stockcars has always had at
SPRINT CUP CARS

least a nod to the shape of the production cars they emulate, but the introduction of the CoT meant every car on the track was essentially an identical shape beneath the stickers. They also wanted to go further than they did with the Nationwide car. On the Nationwide car, from the middle of the bumper upwards to the base of the windshield is the area we were allowed to put in brand identity. The rest of the car is common, which is basically from the windshield base rearward, including the sides and tail, and then the lower nose, said Bernie Marcus, Ford Racings aerodynamicist who has worked on every NASCAR vehicle since the 2004 Taurus. We were able to put on the upper nose with the grille, headlights and then a hood bonnet. We went away from true Stockcar racing and got to a point where the cars we were racing in Sprint Cup were very vanilla. It was something that irritated senior figures within the manufacturers, and was genuinely raising questions about future participation. My management was making it very clear that our car had to have more Dodge identity. It had to look like a Dodge or they would be far less interested in continuing with racing in the series, said Comstock. It was something echoed by all of the manufacturers, and we all went separately to NASCAR and said we need a better looking Cup car. They quickly sent that up the line and the management there agreed wholeheartedly, so their technical people and ours got together. As a result, NASCAR made the pretty big decision to let the four OEMs go a long way down the path to see where we ended up. MANAGEMENT STRATEGY But to achieve what the senior management of the big three and Toyota all wanted, the technical departments of the four manufacturers would all have to work together. There was a group of four of us one from each manufacturer, continued Comstock. We know each other and we see each other every week. We wanted to start out by correcting the errors on the car as it is now. We thought the nose was too short, so we lengthened it by three inches. The tail was way too long, so we put an extra six inches into the centre of the vehicle. The car now has the short tail, longer hood look that we think is representative of more current passenger cars. Once the broad parameters of the new design were set, the manufacturers each went their own way with the car design, developing their own range of body panels and shapes.
Ford used its long proven production car body styling process to get the look of its Generation 6 car just right, including making this full-scale mock up in clay
The Car of Tomorrow was a huge technical advance, but it wasnt a good looking racecar
NASCAR encouraged us to put a lot of identity into the front of our cars without limiting us to designated shapes. We moved the base of the windshield ahead by five inches, and made it look sleeker, longer and lower, even though the centre roof height is the same, and the car would have the same chassis, the same track, the same wheelbase and the same wheel and tyre combo. The upper and lower fascia are unique to each manufacturer, the tail is also different for each make and for the first time ever NASCAR has opened up the sides of the car for us to put identity into the sides, as well as adding wheel arch flares. So we can closely emulate trends in performance car design. Pretty much any production performance car has flares. We all made a pact that we were going to listen to the stylists first, then we would dump the problem on the aero guys. Fortunately, NASCAR wanted to keep the downforce/drag balance and side force close to the existing car. Not exactly the same, but close. They wanted to give enough latitude that the cars would be different, and they thought we could shift some of the balance if we needed. Once these sections were decided, the stylists were essentially given free rein over the look of the car, and each manufacturer tackled it in their own way. For Ford, the process behind developing the 2013 body was significantly different to some of the previous models, where race teams such as Penske and Roush Racing actually built, designed and did the majority of the development on the Ford Taurus, prior to its debut for the 1998 season. We started by going back to our design community and nosed around with guys that have been with the company the longest. We cant remember the last time designers were involved with helping NASCAR, said Ford Racing NASCAR operations manager Andy Slankard. This time, we had the luxury of support from the Ford Design Center to give us these sleek shapes and new look. Only designers could do that, not a bunch of engineers or racecar guys. One of the people heading up the Design Center part of the project is Garen Nicoghosian, design manager for specialty vehicles. A self-professed race fan, he embraced this opportunity and called it one of the highlights of his time so far at Ford. Some of the challenges the design team faced centred around various NASCAR rules, and common areas such as
Ford conducted aero testing at full scale in the AeroDyn wind tunnel in North Carolina www.racecar-engineering.com
SPRINT CUP CARS

the greenhouse that all of the manufacturer vehicles share. But there were other, more obvious ones that had to be overcome. There is a size difference between the production and the racecar, and the proportions are so different, explained Nicoghosian. The street Fusion is a frontwheel drive, front engine car, and the racecar is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive car with a really long hood, and a much lower and wider stance. The fundamentally different profiles and proportions of the two vehicles, as well as other constraints, presented a bigger challenge than simply taking a Fusion and putting NASCAR stickers on it. The challenge was to design a racecar with the look and feel of the production car. To do this, you have to rely on design identity. We paid close attention to the way we shaped the details on the racer, such as the headlights, grille and fog light openings, as well as the body side sections, character lines and overall surface language. When parked side by side, the racer and the street car feel the same, even though the two share absolutely no common surfaces. Weve really embraced the Design Centers philosophy and process of how they would design a car for the street, explains Ford Racing NASCAR programme manager Pat DiMarco. We started with some conceptual drawings that our design team did, and worked with the aerodynamicists to see what was feasible and what was not. That resulted in some 40 per cent clay models that helped assess the cars overall look and how it would react aerodynamically in the wind tunnel. Eventually, a full-size clay model was constructed and reviewed. Dodge, on the other hand, took a rather more pragmatic approach to the cars design: We wanted to see a car go past and be able to tell what it is just from the side, explains Dodge Motorsports Dave Bailey. We had a lot of fun doing that, because we grafted the body of a current production Charger on to a CoT. It wasnt all lined up properly or anything, but that was the first concept we showed to NASCAR. It was really a production car sat on a racecar chassis, and we made a model of it and showed it to Robin Pemberton, NASCARs vice president for competition. I remember he liked it and that meeting went well! FINAL DESIGNS Once all the designs were ready from a manufacturer perspective, they then had to present the final designs to Pemberton and his team at NASCAR R&D, who would then work with all four designs to ensure a level playing field, from an aerodynamic standpoint. When we ran the car for the first time in the tunnel, we were quite surprised that we were within a reasonable range of what NASCAR was looking for, and with only minor corrections we were able to meet the balance
Substantial amounts of aerodynamic work was conducted using both scale models and full-scale cars. Here we see the Dodge under development at the ARC wind tunnel
they required, said Comstock. NASCAR put aero targets on all four OEMs and, by June, we had to hit targets for drag, horsepower, downforce and side force. Unusually, for a competitive series with multiple manufacturers, all four used the same base car to do the official aerodynamic tests, both at Dodges full-scale wind tunnel in Detroit and at the similarly sized but specially designed tunnel at AeroDyn in North Carolina. NASCAR built a chassis with universal body mounts, which they sent to us as a CAD file, added Comstock. What we have done is make body panels. As the greenhouse is common, they put that on and it was fixed. Each of us then made a set of bits and took them to the wind tunnel. We ran
NASCAR encouraged us to put a lot of identity into the front of our cars without limiting us to designated shapes
SPRINT CUP CARS

be more fabricators on it, he said. Whatever anyone supplies, the teams will always find a way to make it better. We will do what NASCAR asks supply the panels and the teams will no doubt then try to make them better. This making it better can often stray beyond what is strictly allowed in the regulations, and new bodies, new methods and new materials will mean NASCARs technical Manufacturer identity can now be found all over the new bodies, inspection process will also which is the key part of the Generation 6 concept have to change. We all did our final wind tunnel runs in June and, once everyone passed, NASCAR scanned all of the cars and will use that as an electronic record, added Comstock. Its all so much easier in the electronic age. They have every square millimetre of our surfaces in there. As a result of that, the templating process will be very different. There will be fewer big, shaped aluminium claws and more fibreglass moulded plugs to fit over areas of the car to keep the teams honest. Scanning, too, is a Another huge change is that for the first time in years manufacturers are able to have different sides on their cars to one another tremendously successful tool, but we may not see it on Friday inspection. Now though, OPEN BOOK DEVELOPMENT if you win a race, the car goes The manufacturers had an open back to the tech centre on book on each others aerodynamic Monday for a detailed scan of figures on the test car and as you the body surfaces, and NASCAR would expect there was some knows exactly what is required discord about balancing the cars. of the cars and exactly what Some were draggier and some the tolerances are! had more downforce than others, The new bodies will not so NASCAR had to decide what be limited to Sprint Cup for the targets were going to be. long, and the new processes Some people cried, some people being implemented will have cheered. But its NASCARs game significant impact on lower and we have to play to their level classes such as ARCA rules. We were all smiling though, and Late Model Series. I enthuses Comstock. We found to fit. The roof, bonnet, wings and sides think there is no end to how that what we expected was really the case. will be supplied as stamped steel parts, much better we can make the cars look CFD is a hugely useful tool for production while there will be a new material for the in a whole range of series, said Comstock. car design and we kinda stole those guys in nose, tail and boot lid something that The one-piece fibreglass body on the Detroit to work on the racecar, so we had a may surprise many when they see it Dodge at the launch [at the Las Vegas Motor pretty good idea it would work. And it did. employed in NASCAR bodies carbon fibre. Speedway] showed how easy it is now. The arrival of the new bodies for the Or at least thats the plan With the improvements in the way we can 2013 Daytona 500 will see most Cup teams However, this does not mean that make one-piece bodies, it seems to me having to rethink the way they work. Instead North Carolina will suddenly be awash with that a lot of the lower series could instantly of the bodies being largely fabricated by unemployed sheet metal workers. Indeed, have better identities, so the ARCA guys the teams from sheet metal, most of the Comstock believes that there will actually could just leapfrog over the CoT and go body will be supplied to the teams ready be more demand for them: I think there will direct to the Generation 6 car.
a control body first, then each of us ran our kit of bits on the car. Once that was done, they took the car out and scanned it for each manufacturer. Part of the aerodynamic programme was to develop the car to work in the real world, but also to ensure no manufacturer was at an advantage. We not only ran at inspection height and attitudes, we ran in the wind tunnel at real world ride heights, said Comstock. There are some universally accepted numbers about what the car runs at when it is on the race track, and we put the car at those heights and checked the cars at the attitudes and yaw angles you would experience in reality. So now we have a good idea on the aero. We found that with a shorter tail we needed to do a fair bit of work on the greenhouse, and we quit expelling air off the side of the car so it didnt get to the spoiler. We now had to encourage air to the spoiler so we could keep the same amount of rear downforce, as we dont want the cars to be aero loose flat out at Talladega.
SPRINT CUP CARS

The 2013 cars made their debut at Daytona for the Sprint Unlimited race in mid-February with perhaps fittingly a Chevrolet taking the flag. But the new cars came too late for one manufacturer, Dodge, which pulled out of the series at the end of 2012, despite having designed a Generation 6 car. Perhaps it will return, but the rumour mill suggests that others from the Far East may also be on the way thanks to the new cars. TUNING THE CONCEPT Even once NASCAR had finalised the overall bodies for the Generation 6 cars, there were still plenty of small changes made, a process that is still ongoing. We knew where last years car was and the input that we got about aerodynamics and how cars act around each other. We set out to make a car that works better than that, explained Pemberton. As a result and we have given the teams more under the underbody to work with weve extended the splitters a little bit, so they should react a little bit better in the draft. Our goal was to start better than we left the last models, and we do have better numbers on the car. I think the drivers confidence that they can hustle these a little bit more will be there once they get their setups fine-tuned. We have worked on where we get our downforce, how we evacuate air from up under the car if a team chooses to do so with different ductwork, cooling hoses and so forth. Thats all in an effort to make the cars run a little bit better in groups or in packs. It seems to have worked. The debut race at Daytona showed that the cars could run in a pack as well as pass each other, though the feedback from the drivers was somewhat mixed. The car drives well, mused Greg Biffle. Maybe we will work on the aero package the car stalls out fast here, its got a lot of drag. One thing that remains somewhat unknown territory for the drivers is bump drafting, as Sprint Unlimited winner Kevin Harvick explained. There is still a lot to be learned with a full pack of cars, he said, and well kind of ease into that with the Duels and then on to the 500. The debut race and some of the practice sessions saw a number of crashes caused by drivers losing control when in contact with other cars. The front bumpers have a very small contact patch in as far as how you can push and how you cant, Harvick continued. When things dont line up correctly, you see what happens. You just have to be patient. It reminds me of how we raced 10 or 11 years ago with those types of cars and that type of package.
Theres no end to how much better we can make the cars look in a whole range of series
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GENERATION 6 CAMBER
he changes to the Sprint Cup car arent limited to the new bodies there have been many detail changes to the car mechanically, most important of which is a decrease in weight allied to a substantial change to the rules governing allowable camber. I had my list of everything that I didnt really like about the Car of Tomorrow and things that I wished we could change, says Sprint Cup series director John Darby. Some of those changes were not practical to do in the middle of a run of a style of car it just creates too much chaos. So when we started putting all the parts and pieces together for the Gen-6 car, it was time to look at introducing a lot of those things, and with the help of our engineers at the tech centre and a lot of sessions, talks and comparing notes theres so many things that have changed beyond the bodywork. We put more toolbox drawers full of tools back in the crew chiefs hands. Theres more things for them to work with, to adjust, to move around, and to experiment with.
Generation 6 cars dont just look different rules on camber mean theyll behave differently too
Teams now have a whole list of goodies now that everybody is playing and experimenting with, changing the mousetrap just a little bit. But from leaving last years car and working on this new one, theres enough thats different, and a lot of the changes have all been pointing to making life easier and more adjustable for the guys in the garage as well as becomes apparent when you consider that the rule defining camber limits has changed. At Daytona, for example, the front wheels look like theyre pretty much straight up-and-down, versus going to Martinsville where the wheel looks like its going to fall off. Thats camber when you move in and out, explains Darby. Its have been. So NASCAR put a rule in that said you could only have 1.8 degrees of camber, which has been in place right up until the start of this season. Today the materials are better, the engineering is better, and your ability to make all of that happen without breaking parts is better. So realising how much of the tyre we werent really using, we decided to change that rule. On the Generation 6 car, the teams are now allowed 3.5 degrees of rear camber you will see it especially clearly on the right rear. This change will put a lot of stresses on the axle shaft as well as the suppliers and teams trying to get components designed and approved by NASCAR in time for the races on the paperclip. The teams will be running a lot of durability testing at the moment, adds Darby. They do that in a lot of different ways. They can simulate that type of loading and rigs on a machine right at their shop, but a lot of teams like to just simply put the miles on the car to get a really good picture of all of that. If you watch the tyre with an onboard camera, especially when goes into a corner, its incredible how much those tyres move when theyre under load. Adding camber to match the banking of the turns helps stabilise that load and stabilise that tyre, so the footprint stays flatter on the racetrack.
A fresh start
In the 90s, teams showed up at Martinsville with a whole bunch of rear camber, and half a dozen cars dropped out with broken axles
enhancing the actual performance of the car on the racetrack. The car weight is one of those factors. While the Generation 6 cars retain the CoT or Generation 5 chassis, the minimum weight has been reduced by 68kg and new spindle designs have been approved. Largely throwing out much of the tyre and setup data accumulated over the years by the teams, this a very adjustable component on the front of all the cars and has been for years. When the radial tyre was introduced, the value of camber on the rear axle also started being experimented with. Back in the 1990s, as teams learned about camber, they started to show up at Martinsville with a whole bunch of rear camber. Half a dozen cars dropped out of the race with broken axles, because the technology of doing all that probably wasnt as researched and refined as well as it should
WINDFORM ADDITIVE MFG:

CAR AERODYNAMIC FEATURES CAR BRAKE DUCTS WIND TUNNEL PARTS MOCKUP PARTS
WINDFORM ADDITIVE MFG:

ELECTRIC COVERS AND SPECIAL PIPES INTAKE MANIFOLDS
MECHANICS: MECHANICS:
UPRIGHTS/SPINDLES ROCKER ARMS SUSPENSIONS END FITTINGS SPECIAL SPLINED EDM PARTS GEARBOX ENGINE PARTS COMPLEX 5X CNC MACHINED PARTS
OTHER WINDFORM ADDITIVE MFG:

MOULD INSERTS MASTER MODELS SPECIAL JIGS
Setting the standard

Based in the heart of NASCAR country, the AeroDyn wind tunnel in Mooresville, North Carolina has been picked out to validate the figures for the new Generation 6 cars
TECHNOLOGY BODYWORK
The 2013 Lowes Chevrolet SS during wind tunnel testing
he introduction of the Generation 6 cars to NASCAR has meant a reliance on the expertise of the wind tunnel specialists, and in particular the AeroDyn facility in North Carolina that was chosen by NASCAR to make the final verification for the bodies ahead of their introduction at Daytona. AeroDyn will this year celebrate its 10th anniversary, having accepted its first paying client in April 2003. Since then, it has seen business expand rapidly in the first five years, before the financial crash in 2008 that led to a gradual decline in trade over the next two. However, since 2010, business has picked up once again, and its reputation has strengthened considerably. In the companys early years, their main tunnel which offers a boundary layer control, spinning wheels and an
automatic ride height adjustment that is accurate to the third decimal percentile was in use 24 hours a day, five days a week, plus extra time on Saturday. Theyre now running 18 hours a day, five days a week, which is says general manager Steve Dickert a more comfortable position to be in, allowing engineers time to maintain the facility between sessions. AeroDyn was the first wind tunnel in the United States designed specifically for NASCAR race series, says Dickert. Of late, we have been able to offer some testing capability to OEM manufacturers that they dont get in their own wind tunnel very
controlled and accurate boundary layer system, and automated ride height control system that is accurate to the third decimal place. Those are functionalities that wind tunnels at GM, Ford and Chrysler dont have, all at the same time. The move to the new cars, coupled with the official sanction from NASCAR, has meant that the tunnel is busy enough, and the work is becoming more complicated. Teams have to start from scratch with their aero figures as there is no baseline from which to work with the Gen-6 cars. It has been six years since the last big rule change to stockcar racing, and the engineers are, from an aerodynamic point of view, pretty much starting afresh.
The level of teamwork between NASCAR and manufacturers is unprecented with the new cars
The cup teams are extremely sensitive to security, adds Dickert, so we cant have us be a conduit for one cup teams advantage to another cup teams advantage. We provide and operate a precision laboratory that meets or exceeds the needs of our customers. The Gen-6 cars have required much the same aerodynamic development as previous generations, but have to immediately be on the pace in a closely contested environment. Much as Formula 1 is looking ahead to the rule changes in 2014 with apprehension after one of its closest seasons ever in 2012, the pressure is on for the NASCAR teams to get it right first time out in 2013. It is interesting that the level of teamwork between NASCAR and manufacturers is unprecedented with the development of the new cars,
R LEVEL AERO
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TECHNOLOGY BODYWORK
accommodate full-scale cars Salazar. What is does DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME only, with speeds up to 130mph. have is a greatly reduced rate, Since opening for business in It is the next big step, big teams thing over here is more pretty much reliant on 130-200mph are The loads from so that smaller and April 2003, AeroDyn believes Ride Height System using wind tunnels and thorough use of CFD, but Computational Fluid o inches of are linear with dynamic pressure. privateers and by privateers I that it has tested more racecars Installed in November 2006, building models is expensive, we have a different set of Dynamics (CFD) for before we explains Romberg. mean The next parameters to work to than aero development, and e CoT we With scale model testing, people who are attempting than any other independent wind the new system is completely the F1 guys. increasingly, top NASCAR le room there is a significant Reynolds land speed records on salt flats, tunnel in the world. It has tripled computer operated. To increase VIRTUAL WIND TUNNELS Alan Gustafson elaborates teams are turning to this Increasingly, CFD is used by teams a little more. It is something technology to develop variation, number mismatch for example they there quite regularly. the amount of data customers testing efficiency, teams provide here the COY is compared to come the we are getting into. As the CoT. There is CoT in a GM gaffer dazzler technology standardises t body for a half-scale model must be They can get large gross aero it collect in a single test session, a complete map of heights they lters down. We are still doing y will do tested at twice the full-scale advantages for very little money improved repeatability from would like to run for a given a lot of development work with ts that it, a lot oflaboratory. correlation work and shape. speed. By using the full-scale in a very controlled Pratt & Miller are helping us tinsville car you can appreciate the This can be essential with that. to them, a lot While nothe NASCAR team is se of the deflections, says aerodynamic and, for a series were winner yet close to the stage where kes. There consultant Gary Romberg. gets a hat or a T-shirt, not prize he management team at the AeroDyn facilty do not consider Formula 1 is today with world ducts, class super-computers in keep the We think that gives a better money, this proves to be a great the rise of Computational Flow Dynamics (CFD) to be a house, it looks like that is the ke that direction the wind is blowing. at a big simulation to what you get on tool when on that kind of out threat to its wind tunnel business, having investigated with It will certainly not be a more the track. Our normal testing of pocket budget. teams and manufacturers the viability of providing in-house great shock when a big team ut. announces the acquisition is 130mph, but we can run Most of A2s customers come in expertise. Most of the teams and manufacturers have their of a powerful system. e other speeds below that, and as first time users and have never own capabilities, and even the smaller NASCAR teams on the ng.com June 2008 even a few speeds above it. set foot inside a wind tunnel. As grid have access to such data. The general speed is 130mph, such, Aerodyn offers assistance Nasa has said that CFD and wind tunnels are not at odds, says which is almost 40lbs/sqft in for these teams to help point aerodynamic consultant Gary Romberg. They are complementary. 22/4/08 13:46:43 kinetic energy. them in the right direction and Also on site is the second teach them how to understand the wind tunnel A2. This tunnel is wind tunnel data. This assistance a smaller, economical solution for is valuable because most people customer teams that are involved are intimidated by testing in a aving developed a strong reputation within NASCAR, AeroDyn in everything, from land speed wind tunnel for the first time and is now looking to expand beyond the confines of stockcar record attempts to road racing, and dont normally know where to racing, and has started working with teams in Indycar, Grand-Am, karting. Available at $490/hour, begin. Along with this help is the and the American Le Mans Series, already with promising results. the company also offers understanding that AeroDyn do Weve had some data with an Indycar team which correlates aerodynamic expertise through not develop the cars or tell them very closely with what was achieved on the track, says its own dedicated staff says David what other customers are doing general manager Steve Dickert. Although European tunnels Salazar, general manager of A2. with their aero programmes. As are looking more to alternatives to motorsport, AeroDyn It is a smaller tunnel, of many low budget teams dont have is looking more at OEMs. Manufacturers do have their
squarely at them. Aerodyns The new baby tunnel at Aerodyn little brother is situated is not as advanced as The the main says Dickert. development the same design as AeroDyn tunnel and wheels are not rotated next to the main tunnel and has always been driven by with maximum wind Opened: 2006 is aimed at a lower level an 85mph Scale: 100% market. While also full-scale, While Windshear, AeroDyn NASCAR, but this time it really is speed. It does not have Closed spinning Type: Jet with A2 runs at a slower speed and Audi may be out of the adaptable arange team wheels, layer than the main tunnel and is active boundary price of effort. smaller teams, ceiling Rolling Road: None not as advanced but can still facilities like the new A2 The AeroDyn tunnelgive is built to control or ride height control, Max Airspeed: 85mph says teams valuable data. tunnel in Mooresville are aimed
Wheels are not rotated in A2, the smaller alternative to the main tunnel A2
A last generation car on the move in the main AeroDyn tunnel
an engineer, the firm can offer some assistance in guiding them along until they better understand the process.
1 per cent to 0.8 per cent, and decreased fault-related down time by a factor of six. In the period since 2006, AeroDyn has added the following upgrades to the facility:
CFD CAPABILITIES
EXPANSION PROGRAMME
With NASCARs new cars, the rules are so tight that teams look for microscopic changes
own tunnels, but most of them dont have the capabilities of the rotating wheels, extensive boundary layers, and precise ride height settings, so we think this is the area we can expand into, says Dickert. There are no plans to build a third tunnel, however.
TECHNOLOGY BODYWORK
test. The height tables are imported into AeroDyns system. This has dramatically increased the efficiency of ride height studies, as well as controlling heights within 0.001-inch. Automated Yaw System This system, added in January 2008, is completely computer operated and uses the latest in measurement technology to assure accuracy and repeatability. Standard yaw increments are pre-programmed, based on the customer test schedule. Additional yaw increments can be input with resolution to 0.1 degrees. The accuracy and speed of establishing each yaw setting has increased testing productivity significantly. New Test Section Floor Based on the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow, the test section floor was redesigned in June 2008 to increase the performance of the floor boundary layer control. The splitter and front end under-body is an extremely sensitive area on the car. As such, the boundary layer system was significantly improved and offers a very good simulation. The total power in the boundary system is now four times what it used to be. Active Boundary Layer control This system, added to the facility in January 2010, is completely computer controlled. By changing the boundary layer control from a passive speed setting to an active pressure setting, the system very accurately matches the boundary layer conditions to actual freestream dynamic pressure in order to maintain a constant Cp ratio. As a result, the overall tunnel sensitivity is extremely high and the smallest, most subtle changes to a test model can be measured. HD Camera System Incorporated in February 2010, this is a completely new system and again is 100 per cent computer controlled. Most tunnels simply provide viewing of the test model through a window, and often only one side view of the model is available. AeroDyns customers have the ability now to view the model in real-time, in HD (1080p) resolution, and eight different camera angles. This system is valuable for studying panel deflections, flow vis, and model integrity during a test. The data collection system is programmed to automatically capture a snapshot of all eight camera angles at the beginning and of each data point. Additionally, the customer has the ability to record video in 1080p of any camera angle. The video is then downloaded to an external hard drive for the customer at the end of the test. Increase Yaw Sweep The original yaw system was +3 to -3 degrees. With the advent of the new car design, it became necessary to gather data to -5 degrees. This upgrade, added in November 2010, required significant modifications to the tunnel floor, balance, actuation system and data collection.
The test section floor was redesigned in 2008 to increase the performance of the floor boundary layer control
THE OPPOSITION
Windshear was formed in 2006 to provide full-scale rolling road wind tunnel access to North American and international teams. Their facility opened in September, 2008, the first facility of its kind in North America, and the third rolling road wind tunnel that operates on this scale. It was also the first full-width rolling road that supports full scale vehicle testing. The project was funded by Haas Automation, the company that owns Windshear. Facility design and construction were overseen by Jacobs Technology, whose engineers manage the day-to-day operation of the tunnel. The air in this closed-circuit wind tunnel covers and area of 160,000 square feet, its main fan is 22 feet in diameter and rated at 5,100 horsepower, capable of producing air speeds of up to 180mph. Air temperature is tightly controlled to within 1degF. The MTS Flat-Trac Rolling Road measures 10.5 feet wide by 29.5 feet long. It easily keeps pace with the wind, accelerating from zero to 180mph in less than a minute. This road is actually a continuous stainless-steel belt just one millimetre thick. During testing, the through-the-belt sensors precisely measure the aerodynamic downforce under each tyre. The facilitys 40-hour weekly operating schedule is filled with NASCAR and Indycar racing teams from all over North America. Teams from Europe and Asia are also bringing their wind tunnel testing to Windshear.
NASCAR WIND TUNNELS

AERODYN
Also known as Eakers place, AeroDyn was built expressly for the purpose of testing stockcars, and its Mooresville, North Carolina location means that many teams frequent it primarily for the cataloguing of cars. We built the walls for stockcars, not for everything from Formula 1 to karts and everything inbetween, explains the tunnels creator Gary Eaker. We originally defined that we deal with stockcars and trucks only we lock these walls and leave them where they are at. Opened: 2003 Scale: 100 per cent Type: Closed Jet with slotted walls Rolling Road: None, wheels spun on rollers Max airspeed: 130mph (147mph possible with recalibration) for NASCAR teams is surprisingly not in North Carolina. In fact it is some distance away in Indianapolis. Auto Research Centre (ARC) not only provides its 50 per cent scale tunnel for use, but also makes many of the models used by teams, often in collaboration with C&R Racing. Scale: 50 per cent Type: Open Jet Rolling Road: Belt
WINDSHEAR
Windshear (see also left) is a very large three-quarter open jet rolling roadtunnel situated on the edge of Concord Airport in North Carolina. The facility is capable of running at speeds of up to 180mph, and is climatically controlled. Emphasis has been placed on the full-scale tunnel being used by NASCAR teams though IRL and Formula 1 teams have also used the tunnel. Reliability and repeatability are the focus of the technical team behind the facility. Opened: 2008 Scale: 100 per cent Type: Open Jet Rolling Road: Steel belt Max airspeed: 180mph
A2 Tunnel
Opened: 2006 Scale: 100 per cent Type: Closed Jet with adaptable ceiling Rolling Road: None Max Airspeed: 85mph
ARC
The most popular scale tunnel
STOCKCAR SIMULATION
The stockcar drafting quandary

See how SolidWorks Simulation solves complex drafting problems without complexity
luid dynamics can impact product performance, and the complex physics can make it hard to predict. With its easy-to-use interface and powerful solution capabilities, SolidWorks Flow Simulation gives you insight into these challenging design problems. Watch as we use SolidWorks Flow Simulation to see what happens when cars pass each other at high speed on a race track, an extreme version of an everyday driving manoeuvre. Youll never look at passing the same way again! Check out the video. Then call for a demo to see how SolidWorks Flow Simulation can enhance your design process.
TECHNOLOGY BULLETIN
Driven Racing Oil makes a major technological leap by incorporating mPAO, the most innovative synthetic base oil ever, into all of its lubricants
mPAO is a next-generation synthetic lubricant that will impress even the most seasoned race engineer. By exclusively using mPAO base oil for all of its synthetic products, Driven is able to create lightweight lubricants that retain a high HTHS (High Temperature High Shear) viscosity to give you the best lubrication possible - an oil thats less sensitive to heat and doesnt lose viscosity under extreme conditions.
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Slippery customers
How lube specialists came up with an oil-based solution to the two-car tango problem
STOCKCAR LUBRICATION
ts not just Formula 1 teams that have specialist lubrication partners in NASCAR the situation is no different. Back in 2011, NASCAR felt that speeds in Sprint Cup races on super speedways had gone too high, with the so-called two-car tango drafting style. So it decided to make some changes to the car to prevent it. The cooling duct on the nose was shrunk in such a way that if drivers attempted this style, the trailing car would lose all of its cooling. NASCAR must have forgotten that we are racers, and we will continue to try to find ways to go faster, said Lake Speed, a certified lubrication specialist at Joe Gibbs Racing who was tasked with finding away around this problem. In the two-car tango, only the trailing car ran a high temperature, and the leading car ran as normal. But in a Sprint Cup race, any car could be leader or trailer, meaning that the oil had to be able to cope with both types of running conditions. It was common to see oil temperatures above 135degC during the race, said Speed. Previously, 105degC was normal and 115degC was cause for alarm.
Of course, the cold temperatures of 105degC allowed us to use very thin oils 0W-10. Now, with temperatures reaching 140degC or more, we increased the viscosity of the oil to 0W-20. That was a step in the right direction, but pack racing led to sustained high temperatures. We could have gone to a much heavier oil that would have raised oil pressure. However, these actually generate more oil temperature, so we did not want to do something that contributed to higher temperatures. Chevron Phillips has recently pioneered synthetic base oils that provides greater thermal stability. Developed for wind turbine gearboxes, these new synthetic base oils provide a much higher viscosity Index. The higher this is, the less the oil thins out at higher temperatures. Using these new oils, we created a new 0W-10 oil that would not thin out too much at high temperature. The experience and expertise these teams are gathering has started to filter down to other parts of the sport. The Joe Gibbs products, for example, are made available to rival teams as well as smaller outfits as part of the driven range of products.
THE HTHS BALANCING ACT

The high temperature high shear (HTHS) viscosity of an engine oil is a critical property related to engine durability and fuel economy. It is essential to have a thick enough HTHS viscosity to maintain a protective oil film between moving parts, but you also want the right balance of protection and ease of movement. The oil has to be thick enough to maintain separation of the critical moving parts, but thin enough to allow for fuel efficient operation. New fuel economy regulations implemented by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seek to improve fuel economy in the years ahead. In Europe, the reduction of greenhouse gases through improved fuel economy marches forward, and lowering HTHS enables these fuel economy targets to be met, but lower HTHS requires careful balancing. Lower HTHS viscosity tends to improve fuel economy, but higher HTHS viscosity affords better wear protection. The right balance must be struck between durability and fuel economy, and this must be maintained throughout the oil life. SAE International recently approved the new 16 viscosity grade that will allow car companies to specify lower HTHS oils such as 0W-16 and 5W-16. These new oils will be offered for specifically designed engines. Engine manufacturers are currently evaluating older engines to see if engine durability is an issue with low HTHS viscosity oils. If durability does prove to be an issue, manufacturers may have to redesign their engines to take advantage of the potential fuel savings. No engine tests in the current diesel engine oil category, API CJ-4, address adhesive wear, which often occurs during running-in, and the use of low HTHS oils could lead to excessive premature wear if misapplied, especially during running-in. This is of particular interest to performance auto enthusiasts, as many use diesel engine oils for running-in and use low viscosity road car oils in their racecars. As fuel economy regulations continue to force change in motor oil formulations, auto enthusiasts need to be aware of the possible consequences of these changes on their high performance or vintage engine, especially in regards to bearing life New mPAO synthetic base oils are now available that improve HTHS performance. The new mPAO base oil used by leading companies in its synthetic oils boosts HTHS while maintaining viscosity grade.
STOCKCAR PRODUCTS
Replacing the Rocket

A modern alternative to the Ford Type E transmission from Quaife
or many years the venerable Ford Type E Rocket transmission has been standard equipment on European circle track cars such as NHRPA National Hot Rods. The four-speed single rail gearbox, was fitted to many European Ford sedans such as the Mk2 Escort and Sierra models, and for years examples were abundant. But things have changed and one family-run English engineering firm has decided to bring the European oval track market up-to-date. The original Rocket is 40-50 years old, so parts supply is limited, explains Michael Quaife, director of RT Quaife Engineering. But its a very successful transmission and it will never die, so theres a large demand for different ratios to suit different forms of motorsport. But the problem is that ratio availability is limited and users are fed up with having to carry alternative crown wheel and pinion ratios. This is why weve designed QBM1M, to provide a modern alternative, which offers a wide
range of gearing options with its drop gear system and all-new gear-change mechanism. Quaife used its in-house CAD and analysis capability to design the new transmission in such a way that the required versatility was included, while the shape of the new box allowed it to be a straight swap for the Rocket. Oval racing is the reason the design of QBM1M evolved as it has, says Quaife. Firstly, its four-speed, its as light as the standard Rocket box, it uses the same stud pattern, plus itll take roughly the same level of overall power as the original. But its much, much more compact and users can position the gearbox and gear lever where they want to in the car, whereas with the original Rocket youre limited because of the long tailcase. Despite its versatility, Quaife expects that it will take some time for the new transmission to gain in popularity in the UK circle track market, but it will
likely find applications in other areas. I think it will take some time to penetrate the market, and Im not looking to flood the market anyway, says Quaife. There would be no difference to the design if it was to be used on road courses. There is such a large selection of drop gears that you can simply drop the propshaft, change the drop gears and youve altered the overall gearing. Its easy to change between ratios that would suit Lydden Hill or Spa, he explains. The transmission could find markets further afield and will be available for sale in the first quarter of 2013. Were looking at it costing around $5,000 excluding taxes, says Quaife. It will be on sale worldwide there is still quite a lot of demand in United States for Rocket transmission parts.
STOCKCAR PRODUCTS
Canned heat
A versatile, superlight new coating that offers real gold and real benefits
The new ZircoFlex Gold is half the weight of the previous ZircoFlex product
n 2013, some NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will be using a technology developed by the British atomic energy industry which was originally designed to be used in Formula 1. Zircotec is constantly asked by our automotive customer base for lighter solutions to protect against heat problems, says Terry Graham, the companys managing director. Zircotecs ceramic coatings are renowned in European motorsport. Supplying 11 of the 12 Formula 1 teams last year, and half the BTCC grid, its products are trusted to manage heat effectively. The firms ceramic thermal barrier coatings offer surface temperature reductions of over 125degC, and
Gold heat reflective products are generally not real gold, and carry a weight penalty
is almost universally used on F1 cars in areas such as airboxes and brake ducts. However, in some specific applications the teams were using gold in addition to reflect heat away. Engineers would sometimes attempt to apply gold over our coating, but it was time-consuming, expensive to use, and required complex adhesives, added Graham. He smiles when saying gold, as analysis discovered that several were in fact copper. While there are already a significant number of gold heat reflective products on the market, these are generally not real gold. They offer no real performance benefit, but to the untrained eye they can appear similar to gold, claims Graham. Gold leaf is very difficult to handle and apply, while metal foil (normally copper) that has been electroplated with gold is too rigid, also carries a weight penalty and deteriorates quickly at high temperature due to oxidation of the copper substrate. But Grahams firm had to react to the demand of the teams, especially as temperature control will increase in importance substantially with
the introduction of Formula 1s new powertrains in 2014. Its solution, the ZircoFlex Gold heatshield, is just 0.17mm thin and at 225g/m is half the weight of the current ZircoFlex product. Combining superlight weight with its ability to be cut and folded, its attractive for weight sensitive or package restricted applications. Supplied as a flat sheet, it can be used to protect ancillaries such as batteries as well as bulkheads, composite parts and fuel tanks and crucially is something the teams can carry and apply as necessary in the field. We expected after Autosport Show that F1 would be the key market for this, but in fact we have received significant orders for ZircoFlex Gold from NASCAR teams, says Graham.
STOCKCAR PRODUCTS
3D printing and new materials, the secret of stockcar racing

The irrepressible rise of additive manufacturing to create functional parts, fast
n a world where everything is defined by speed, the motto is simply be faster. Stockcar racing is a sport where fractions of inches can separate the winners from the losers. More and more this world is looking for innovative technologies, and one area many teams has started to investigate is 3D printing, especially additive manufacturing. In addition, the teams require functional parts to be available with very short lead times, so the materials used in the printing process have to have the right mechanical properties. This has led some in the cup garage to look beyond the the shores of the USA to the world of Formula 1, where the practice is more commonplace. Leading the market there are the Windform family of materials developed by CRP Technology, an Italian-based company. The additive manufacturing procedures used by the firm allow a finished and fully functional mock-ups to be obtained in a short amount of time. This is especially important in aerodynamic programmes, where teams work between the templates to find that extra edge. The Windform materials have been specifically developed for motorsports applications, can withstand high temperatures and have material properties previously unheard of for selective laser sintered (SLS) materials. It has opened up a new world of possibilities for the top designers in NASCAR. Functional
parts and small volume production runs are possible in a few days, instead of the weeks that they would have taken in the past. Driver compartment accessories, custom ducting and packaging optimisation are just a few areas where engineers are designing custom solutions using SLS material technology for ontrack production parts. Scale model and rolling road wind tunnel programmes are as common and available in NASCAR today as they are in F1. Anywhere there is a high demand for rapid development cycles of highly
complex geometries, programmes can benefit from CRPs additive manufacturing knowledge and F1-derived experience. Indeed the demand has been such that the Italian firm has set up its own North American subsidary CRP USA based of course in Mooresville, NC. It has already completed many projects for Cup teams such as Earnhardt-Childress Racing for the manufacturing of an alternator shroud. Alternators are one of the most problem-prone parts on NASCAR race engines. The
combination of high under-hood temperatures (up to 350degF), high vibration (up to 600g), and high electrical current demand (up to 140A) present unprecedented design challenges. Initial attempts at implementing a duct involved fitting a secondary rear cover to the alternator with an integral hose attachment. Packaging was tight and cooling efficiency of the cover was sacrificed by retaining the original OEM rear cover. ECR designed a replacement rear cover for a standard NASCAR-spec Bosch alternator that fitted well and provided maximum cooling
ECR designed a replacement rear cover for a standard NASCAR-spec Bosch alternator using 3D printing www.racecar-engineering.com
STOCKCAR PRODUCTS
efficiency. Once this potential solution was found, the next step was one of how to manufacture the parts needed using a reliable material in a short lead time. Traditional machining and moulding offer reliable materials, but once the cost of tooling is included and the time penalty incurred, neither approach was really adequate. 3D printing was really the only way forward. Windform LX 2.0 was chosen as the material to use, as it has the right strength and thermal resistance properties. This improved version of the material, has increased performance in both mechanical and thermal properties. It is non-conductive, and in the case of the alternator cover, it is critical that the material does not interfere with the electrical operation of the device. Six alternator cooling covers were produced in a very short time, much to the satisfaction of ECR Engine
The Windform enclosure came out on top compared to the traditional carbon fibre mould
technical director Dr Andrew Randolph: The Windform alternator covers from CRP fit perfectly from the onset and we have not a single alternator failure since instituting them on all ECRs NASCAR Cup engines. Many other applications have been carried out with 3D printing and Windform materials in NASCAR, though most are still confidential. One though has seen two companies relatively new to stockcar racing work together to create a new product. CRP USA have designed and built a part for DC Electronics, one of the leading manufacturers of custom-built electrical systems which has its North American office sited next door to CRP USA. DCE made its entrance into stockcar racing by producing wiring harnesses for the Sprint Cup Fuel Injection systems. The company is also expanding its product range and required an enclosure for a new electronic circuit it had designed. Several iterations of enclosures were developed with a final version produced in Windform LX 2.0. In comparing the cost and weight, the Windform enclosure came out
on top compared to the traditional carbon fibre mould and layup that DCE would normally use. As we went through the design process, it was evident that the enclosure size and shape would continue to evolve until testing was complete, enthuses David Cunliffe, founder of DCE Electronics. By using 3D printing from CRP, we managed to greatly reduce the cost and cut the lead time dramatically, allowing us to release the prototypes for testing at a much faster rate. While this part is pending approval for racing, the enclosures have performed extremely well in all testing, and will be ready at a moments notice for full production. Thanks to 3D printing and the performance of Windform materials, the time from concept to production has been reduced from weeks to a matter of days, enabling the NASCAR teams to find the right solution, in a near instant timescale.
3D printing is enabling firms to prepare and release prototypes for testing at a much faster rate
STOCKCAR PRODUCTS
Software upgrade
Far removed from web surfing, email and Angry Birds, tablet technology is becoming increasingly invaluable in motorsport through applications such as TRDs Trackside
hen tablet computing first appeared, few thought that it would have a role in the motorsport world beyond sending a few emails from the hauler and reading publications like this one. With Apple leading the market for these devices with its iPad, it did not seem plausible that teams would find real-world applications
for them beyond using them as a tray to carry coffee back to the hauler on. Very few serious engineering software packages are able to run on the OSX operating system, but when tablets running Windows came on the market, everything changed and some big players started to get involved. Just ahead of the 2013 Daytona 500 Toyota announced that it had been working
with Microsoft to develop a touchscreen app for Windows 8equipped tablets. Unlike many of the apps announced for motorsport applications, this one has a real-world purpose, and forms the centrepiece of a new strategy to improve the performance of the Toyota teams competing in NASCAR. When drivers, crew chiefs and team engineers expressed the need for a more mobile
With Trackside, race teams can capture performance data and share it with the crew in real-time
Complex data is compiled quickly, giving the crew chief and driver insight and analysis on timing and scoring data www.racecar-engineering.com
computing platform to monitor real-time performance data, TRD (Toyotas North American motorsport subsidiary) developed the app and named it Trackside. During practice, drivers and crew chiefs previously had to record racing performance data with software on a laptop, or even with pencil and paper, requiring drivers to get out of their racecars to view information about the cars performance, as well as to explain what was happening on the track. With the new app, race teams can capture performance data and share it with the crew in real-time, enabling mechanics to immediately get to work fine-tuning the car. It also offers real time data that gives the crew chief and driver insight and analysis on timing and scoring data versus competitors, allowing a team to determine if the right adjustments have been made to the car, or what adjustments may need to be made. Trackside running on Surface Pro means more time is spent on the track and less time is spent talking, said Steve Wickham, TRDs vice president of chassis operations. Teams are back on the track faster, allowing them more time to determine the optimum setup for the racecar. When it came to choosing a device, TRD wanted a highperformance, lightweight, touchenabled computer to complement the fast-paced environment at the race track. Several tablets were tested during the pilot phase, but the Surface Pro was ultimately chosen because it delivered the power and performance of a laptop PC in a tablet package, as well as being able to withstand the harsh environment of the garage.
TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT
Rear steer and hiking

Deciphering unusual behaviour on a Dirt-style Modified
Q
Mark Ortiz Automotive is a chassis consultancy service primarily serving oval track and road racers. Here Mark answers your chassis setup and handling queries. If you have a question for him, get in touch. E: markortizauto @windstream.net T: +1 704-933-8876 A: Mark Ortiz, 155 Wankel Drive, Kannapolis NC 28083-8200, USA
Below is a photo of a northeastern modified in a turn at Fonda speedway in NY by my son. He has chosen artistic expression with a camera as his lifes passion over his fathers preoccupation with physics and chassis dynamics in particular and racecar engineering in general. Most days I think he is the smart one. Could you please look at the image and give me an assessment as to whats occurring
dynamically with this car at this instant in time? I will withhold my thinking at this time as to not muddy up the water. The only bit Ill add is that this chassis attitude, on this car, in this location of the track is the same almost every week and it carries this mode over a considerable distance along the corner ie this is not a quick snapshot of the phenomenon; the car maintains this attitude over a certain length of time.
We dont know for sure if this Dirt-style Modified is behaving like this on its own, or if the driver is driving a tight car loose
he image below shows a Dirt-style Modified, cornering in a powerslide, with the left front wheel high in the air, a large roll angle, and the rear wheels visibly aimed to the right. I can tell that the car had maintained the attitude for some time when the picture was taken the left front wheel has stopped turning. To address one part of whats happening dynamically, the right rear tyre is probably the most heavily loaded on the car, but it is not more heavily loaded than it would be if the car were set up to corner on four wheels. On the contrary, its as lightly loaded as it can be, at that lateral force. The left rear is as heavily loaded as it can be on that car, at that lateral force. The front load transfer is 100 per cent, and the rear load transfer is whatever remainder
is needed to keep the car from tipping over, which is the smallest value it can have. This means the rear tyres are as equally loaded as possible under those conditions, and consequently the car should be tight. The exaggerated rear steer is needed to counter this effect. Really, we cant tell from the picture whether the car is tight or not. Its in a state of obvious oversteer. The rear slip angles are greater than the front, even after allowing for the roll oversteer. Without talking to the driver we dont know if the car does this on its own, or if the driver is driving a tight car loose. Many times Ive seen vehicles on dirt tracks corner outrageously sideways, more so than their competition, and had the drivers tell me their vehicles had a push. Whats happening in such cases is that the driver is pitching the car on entry, and then horsing the tail out with the throttle, simply because if driven any other way the car wont rotate at all. LATE ARRIVAL The car is exhibiting a design and setup strategy that first became popular in dirt Late Models, and has since become fairly common in the lower-cost IMCA-style Modifieds as well. Part of the strategy has even been in the news lately in relation to upperdivision Nascar pavement cars.
There are basically two elements to the strategy. The first is to aim the rear wheels out of the turn, either statically or dynamically, or both. Doing this statically is what has been recently tried on Cup cars, and has now been limited by Nascar in a mid-season rule change. The second element, mainly on dirt cars, is to make the car hike. That is, make the left rear jack dramatically, typically in response to both lateral and longitudinal force. The rear suspension is set up with large amounts of thrust anti-squat, especially on the left, and with a beam axle this concomitantly produces a lot of roll oversteer. Most commonly there are two trailing links per side, attached to the axle with rotating brackets called birdcages. The links are not extremely long. The axle ends move in a path that is both sloped and curved. The wheels move rearward, at a decreasing rate, as the suspension compresses, and they move forward at an increasing rate as it extends. Typically, there is also a short, steeply raked Panhard bar on the left side of the car, which jacks the left rear up in response to lateral force. The result is that even on a dry slick track, the car will jack the left rear up so much that the left front tyre will come off the ground. This would normally make the car push like
TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT
A Late Model in the wind tunnel something few teams can afford where the hiking affect can be examined and assessed
a pig, but the exaggerated roll Yet there is a long history of Rather similarly, it would be Why? Because its not easy oversteer at the rear is used to popularity for this approach, and possible to statically lead the to test this in existing wind kill the push. it have won a lot of leftis rear a lot, but the classes Most teams involved expensive AeroDyn an Giraud, happened to work forcars using A2s cost tunnels. strategy allows Its not uncommon for the races. What might be the reason? were talking about have rules in dirt racing dont have open return tunnel with a bicycle racing organisation, competitors in lower-level series hiking effect to use up all or It could have to do with limiting wheelbase inequality on the budget for wind tunnel to get valuable wind tunnel time walls that be tuned explained Eaker. Thats most of the suspension travel not aerodynamics. In the casecan of the two sides of the car. It might testing anyway, but even if at the rear, in compression at the Cup (adjusted cars with the axle be possible toto get around this they did, most tunnels will by jack screws) why we hired him, bicycles the right rear and extension snouts aimed to the right, thats by moving the left front wheel not accommodate the yaw were not on our horizon, but undoubtedly match the streamlines coming industry standards, this is too at the left rear. This leaves the the case. It used to ahead of the right front. However, angles required. The belts or simple, toosupport small to wont be really off practice Sprint Cup and scales when Mike suggested it, we be standard suspension with little ability on all but cars the engine setback rules often wheel rollers to absorb bumps. the fastest tracks to work the (though not always) specify how accommodate the required effective, but that was wheel the real that enable the wheels to spin said, Sure. With his conbody rules by moving the tail to far the nearest spark plug can be positions. Most tunnels arent challenge to us. during tests. nections, it turned TWISTING LOGIC out to be the right, relative tothe the rest of from the left front upper ball joint. big enough to accommodate the Does this make sense? From the body. This got more air to When this is so, we cant move aerodynamic front-view width of To accomodate a wider serendipity. He knew of our the standpoint of tyre and the rear deck and spoiler when the left front wheel forward; we the car when yawed dramatically. variety of vehicles and capabilities and with some TUNED CEILING suspension dynamics, it doesnt. running at some leftward yaw can only move the right front Blockage effects would result specic modi cations for In the end Eaker decided It makes more sense to have throughbudgets, a left turn. But Eaker in recent needed back. The to only way to aim the which would compromise the to only as much dynamic wedge years this has been prohibited, or rear wheels to the right without accuracy of the testing. take a different, less complex bicycles, A2 is on the verge of use an application that has as it takes to balance the severely limited. A similar effect losing engine setback is to make It might be possible to try to approach to A2. I them sometimes being a very high use facility can be had been used previously based handling, with the tyres and car by simply yawing steer that way dynamically. model and mesh a dirt Late Model refer it as our science fair for bicycles. on a concept long since construction the rules permit. the whole car byto aiming the rear and apply computational fluid Hopefully, we will still have some wheels rightward. UNKNOWN QUANTITY dynamics (CFD) to the problem. project, he laughed. By most The far larger and more proven in supersonic aircraft. travel left in the suspension to Not only does more Having the car rolled a lot also But thats not cheap either at the He installed a ceiling that absorb bumps, and some ability aerodynamic yaw get more air to should get us some downforce level that would be required. to vary the amount of dynamic the rear deck and spoiler, thereby from the lateral componentcan of One possibility might be be tuned ie raisedto and wedge to control the cars generating more downforce, but the airflow. On the other hand, instrument a Late Model, and lowered. The analogy would balance. The left front tyre will it also generates an aerodynamic especially in a Late Model with adjust the suspension so it be to an aircrafts relationship probably still be the most lightly lateral force. This is maximised a full-width front end, having would run in various hiked and loaded of the four in many cases, when the car has extremely the left front corner high costs yawed positions when running between the wings and and will contribute the least to slab-sided bodywork. Hiking the us downforce by letting more straight on smooth pavement, Gary Eaker was introduced to fuselage as the wings grow the total cornering force, but left rear also lifts the spoiler air in under the left front. and measure the suspension NASCAR employed by GM the bodywith of various the aircraft whats the sense in throwing that higher. It would bewhile possible to Whether there is a net gainwider, in displacements away and turning the car into a just have it higher statically, downforce, or exactly when there setups. Aerodynamic forces Racing. He jumped into Stock grows slimmer. tricycle unnecessarily? but the rules restrict that. is or isnt, is not known. might then be inferred from that.
BUDGET BLOW
Car racing in a big way when he www.racecar-engineering.com signed up as aerodynamicist for Hendrick Motorsports. Then, in 2003, he went out on
If you look at the B1 bomber with the wasp waist, he continued, as the area of the wings grew, the cross-
STRAIGHT TALK RICARDO DIVILA
Bending the rules

NASCAR has seen some of motorsports most ingenious regulation dodges
nterpreting the regulations governing the technical aspects of motor racing is like playing the bagpipes no one can judge if it is good or bad. The NASCAR garage has an expression: if you aint cheatin, you aint tryin. Junior Johnson had this to say: Id have four of five new things on a car that might raise a question. But Id always leave something that was outside of the regulations in a place where the inspectors could easily find it. Another colourful character was Smokey Yunick, whose antics could fill a book, and did his memoir Best Damn Garage in Town is required reading. His notorious 68 Chevelle, reputed to be a 7/8-scale version of the homologated car, led NASCAR to create the infamous templates they use on all cars today. Legend has it that when it picked up its 16th violation during tech, he got in the car and drove it back to his garage in Daytona with the fuel tank still sitting in the inspection area, with the parting shot of make it 17. As Karen Van Allen once wrote: Cheating has been around since the inception of stockcar racing. 1966 produced two of the most notorious violations of rules quite possibly witnessed in the sport of NASCAR and both cars passed inspection prior to the Dixie 500 at Atlanta. Junior Johnsons Yellow Banana Ford Galaxy and Henry Smokey Yunicks little #13 1967 Chevy Chevelle, complete with an offset chassis, raised floor, roof spoiler, balloon in gas tank and a host of other brilliant rules book interpretations. NASCAR finally disqualified Yunicks creation in 1968 when it was found to be some 200 pounds underweight. The use of waterfilled tyres to be fitted after the
qualifying run before tech could have something to do with it. After the templates closed the stable-door, Smokey is deemed to have pulled another one. Templates were cut to the production drawings of the manufacturer. When Smokeys new car didnt fit the templates at tech, he loudly protested his innocence, maintaining they mustave got templates wrong, challenging them to check on any car of the model they could find. Upon going to the tracks parking lot, those templates wouldnt fit any of the few cars they found, just like they wouldnt fit Smokeys. As the new racing car was one of the first from the assembly line, Smokey had munificently provided several examples, coincidentally modified as the racecar, and scattered them around. Game, set and match. Again, an environmentgenerated mindset, where the
antecedents of the bootlegging good old boys racing led to the ideal of not getting caught by the law. The concept of unfair advantage is quintessentially American, even if the word unfair is the vestigial appendix of sporting ethos from the playing fields of Eton. Eton also came up with gamesmanship, detailed in Stephen Potters The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship, or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating, which describes the use of dubious methods to win or gain a serious advantage in a game or sport. Or pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end. It may be inferred, Potter writes, that the term derives from the idea of playing for the game (ie to win at any cost) as opposed to sportsmanship, which
derives from the idea of playing for sport. Or bagpipes again. In the first case, legality is a binary condition, like pregnancy. You either are or are not pregnant, but in other regards you are NOT either legal or illegal. There is a spectrum of legality, and where you reside relies on the intention, definition and the policing of these rules. Racing is littered with examples of tricky interpretations of the rules. At Le Mans there was a rule that tyres could not be heated in the garages, but it didnt mention about tyres heated behind the garages. And when cars were supposed to be road useable, there was a rule specifying the size of the compartment where baggage could be carried, but no definition of what the baggage was. Making up new rules is every bit as tricky as interpreting them, but nowhere near as fun.
Yunicks 68 Chevelle was 200lbs underweight. Possibly due to it having water-filled tyres
18 0 m p h w i t h o u t m o v i n g a n i n c h
Take cutting-edge wind tunnel technology. Add a 180 mph rolling road. And build in the best in precision data acquisition capabilities. When we created the worlds first and finest commercially available full-scale testing environment of its kind, we did much more than create a new wind tunnel. We created a new standard in aerodynamics.
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Issue 09 Spring 2013 www.racecar-engineering.

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Rear steer and hiking

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Bending the rules

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