{"id":4168,"date":"2022-05-06T15:48:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T15:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/motorracingsports.com\/?p=4168"},"modified":"2022-06-26T03:32:55","modified_gmt":"2022-06-26T03:32:55","slug":"how-important-is-the-car-in-nascar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorracingsports.com\/how-important-is-the-car-in-nascar\/","title":{"rendered":"How Important Is The Car In NASCAR Racing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Editorial credit: Grindstone Media Group \/ Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first glance, the core question of today\u2019s article might appear somewhat unusual. How important is the car in NASCAR? Well, pretty darned important, no? Without the car, there is no race, and there is no NASCAR, period.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n NASCAR aims to make the race cars<\/a> as equal as possible. To make the sport a test of driving abilities rather than manufacturer big budget and engineering abilities, like formula 1 for example. Even so teams still work to the very limit of these stringent rules to get the most performance they can from the cars.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s look at the question in a slightly different way. When thinking about the importance of the car in NASCAR<\/a>, let\u2019s say we\u2019re referring to the role the car plays in securing a victory when compared to other factors: the driver, the track, the pit crew, the weather, and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact is that all of these things play a key role in securing a victory at any NASCAR event. Looking at the factor of the car, then, how big of a role does it play?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n The important thing about the cars in NASCAR races<\/a> is that they conform to a certain set of specifications. Today\u2019s blog comes at an interesting and opportune time, because as it happens, NASCAR in 2022 is moving into an all-new generation of its cars <\/strong>with new specifications that do have significant bearing on how they will perform in future races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table 1: basic specifications of NASCAR\u2019s latest generation of vehicles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A number of new features have also made it into the cars this year, including (but not limited to):<\/p>\n\n\n\n The point of these specifications as a rule in the sport is to create parity among the teams. It\u2019s not the case that one team can simply invest their bigger budget into making their car the fastest and most advanced piece of automotive technology <\/strong>on the planet and start winning more races. The principle of parity is to actually remove that possibility from the equation and make driver skill the key factor<\/strong><\/a> behind each race.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the foundation of our main question for today\u2019s blog. With this in mind, can it really be said that the car is a truly important factor in victory if they\u2019re all basically the same? They intended for the drivers\u2019 skill to emerge as the top factor. Doesn\u2019t that render the car somewhat moot?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Background: About NASCAR Vehicles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
NASCAR Feature<\/strong><\/td> Statistics<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Overall Length<\/td> 193.3\u201d<\/td><\/tr> Overall Height<\/td> 50.2\u201d<\/td><\/tr> Weight (without driver and fuel)<\/td> 3,200-lbs<\/td><\/tr> Width<\/td> 78.4\u201d<\/td><\/tr> Wheelbase<\/td> 110\u201d<\/td><\/tr> Horsepower<\/td> 670-hp or 550-hp (with restrictor plate)<\/td><\/tr> Transmission<\/td> 5-speed sequential shift<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n