One of the principal things that attracts people to NASCAR races is the “audio” experience. The sound of dozens of V8 stock cars roaring around the racetrack is what a lot of people say the sport is all about. Ever since 2017, however, there has been a proposal in the air to make NASCAR quieter, both for the health and safety of the fans who attend the races in person, and for the surrounding area.
The most obvious piece of equipment that would help quieten a NASCAR race is a muffler — the clue is in the name — an item that regular street cars are required to have by law, but that NASCAR vehicles do not.
So, in their efforts to reduce the overall number of decibels produced, has NASCAR yielded and started using mufflers? We’ll explore the answer to that here
Does NASCAR Use Mufflers?
In general, NASCAR vehicles do not use mufflers, but NASCAR has been testing them recently in two of their larger city races, namely Chicago and Los Angeles. Despite the first proposals for mufflers emerging in 2017, it has taken this long for mufflers to actually be applied to real races.
The main reason NASCAR has resisted mufflers has been opposition from fans who loudly and proudly declare that the deafening noise is all part of the track experience, and that this shouldn’t change.
Back in late January of 2023, NASCAR tested the mufflers before they would be applied in Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. There was a lot of speculation about how it would impact the race, with some die-hard fans continuing to declare that it was heresy to even add this equipment to the new seventh-generation cars.
Fortunately, the more modular nature of the car build allows for this modification to be made with minimum fuss.
Did Mufflers Ruin the NASCAR Race at the LA Coliseum in 2023?
So, what was the result of adding mufflers to Clash? Did thousands of appalled fans riot and tear up the temporary track? Actually, no. The race was hailed as a great success, and the mufflers seemingly didn’t negatively impact people’s overall experience of the race.
In fact, NASCAR officials were fairly confident in their implementation of the mufflers in LA because they had been thoroughly tested with 6 different drivers at Phoenix Raceway the week before, as we touched on above.
Brad Keselowski was one of the test drivers at Phoenix, and he said that:
“The whole muffler package was pretty good…It seemed to make the cars actually sound a little better without kind of neutering them.”
The fact is that the mufflers being used by NASCAR aren’t going to dramatically muffle anything. A next-gen NASCAR vehicle positioned about 100 feet from you produces the equivalent noise in your ear as a human shouting at you from just 1 inch away, something in the region of 110-112dB. we have an article on how loud a NASCAR race can be here.
The mufflers used by NASCAR are only going to reduce that noise level by anywhere between 6 and 10dB. Let’s be generous and say they reduce it by 10dB, then you still have a noise level at around 100-102dB, which is only safe for the human ear to be exposed to for about 2 hours.
NASCAR events are typically longer than 2 hours, and feature all kinds of noises, so protective ear plugs would still be absolutely necessary with the mufflers in place. We have an article on the best ear protection for NASCARS races ( and anywhere else actually) here on the site.
The experience in LA seems to show, however, that at least in the fundamental sense that some fans were concerned about, mufflers have done nothing to detract from the race day experience.
Could Mufflers Cause Any Other Problems in NASCAR?
Excess Heat
Besides fan complaints, there is another area of concern regarding mufflers and their impact on the cars, and that’s to do with heat in the cabin. Installation of the mufflers requires the exhaust pipes to be extended, which some feared would add undue heat to an already hot and uncomfortable cabin for the drivers.
Christopher Bell was among those testing the mufflers at the Phoenix Raceway, and he did confirm that inclusions of the mufflers raised heat in the cabin. A tweet featuring Christopher Bell on January 26th confirmed:
“Christopher Bell said the mufflers increased heat inside the car and that will continue to need to be worked on…”
Phoenix is already a pretty hot place, as are many other locations of NASCAR races, and doubly so in the summer months when the season is really gathering momentum.
Test drivers confirmed that the mufflers have definitely helped with sound concerns from the driver’s perspective, especially in the garage and times before the race, but the heat problem could scupper the whole idea if they can’t get it under control.
During the practice session in LA, excess heat certainly proved to be a serious problem for one driver, Ty Gibbs, whose car actually caught fire. Luckily for Gibbs it was a next-generation car with its modular design, which allowed his team to replace all the burned-out parts and resolve the issues involved before race day on Sunday.
Speed/Power Reduction
A further technical concern when it comes to the inclusion of mufflers is how they might affect the overall power and speed of the vehicles during a race. One of the primary reasons mufflers aren’t used on NASCAR stock cars is that such an exhaust system slows down the power-producing bursts of exhaust that are possible in muffler-free vehicles. A slower exhaust means a less powerful and ultimately slower car.
The test at Clash at the Coliseum did not seem to show this. The media reported
a fantastic and exciting event packed with the typical thrills and spills that people have come to expect from the sport.
The top-3 finishers even got to have a special podium ceremony, a first for NASCAR, which shows that the sport is continuing to innovate in ways that make the event more enjoyable for fans even when the mechanics of the event are changing.
Conclusion
So while testing continues on using mufflers on a NASCAR race car it seems that the benefits may really on apply to the drivers in terms of sound but not in terms of heat!
For spectators the 10DB or so reduction in noise levels doesn’t seem to be making that much difference and if you are heading track side anytime soon it may be worth looking at our article on ear protection to keep those ears safe!
