Race Car Stuff

If you have ever gone to the race track towing your car and the people who just happen to paddock right next to you have a humongous pickup truck. You spend the whole weekend looking at their truck and with envy. Well…. Don’t let that happen again. This is the International CXT:

It is a pickup truck built on a Semi chassis. Nobody in the paddock will outclass you. Here is a link for more information:

The International CXT

One of my recent High Performance Driving Education (HPDE) students, Steve, is taking the next step this weekend. He has built a Spec RX7 racecar and is taking the car to his first SCCA competition licensing school this weekend. I guess he was happy with my HPDE instruction, as he has asked me to crew for him at the licensing school. One of the true joys I get out of my racing involvement these days is opening up this fantastic sport to others.

To many people who watch racing on television or from the grandstands it seems so completely inaccessible. The sport seems so expensive that no “mere mortal” could ever get involved. In reality, nothing is further from the truth. There are various classes of racing that anyone can get into for a few thousand dollars. Used racecars are readily available that make nice starting platforms. All forms of racing have entry levels where the costs are reasonable.

Steve’s Spec RX7 is a great example of one of these entry levels of racing. The cars can typically be built from an 81-85 RX7. Most people end up with about $2500-5000 tied up in the car. In addition since this is an entry level form or racing there are always race ready cars for sale for about the same prices. The cars basically do not depreciate. If the car is maintained, it can probably be sold without losing any money when it is time to move on to another racecar.

Keep reading the next couple of days. I will be reporting on how Steve’s race weekend goes.

The racing world without Michael Schumacher is going to be a different place. He has retired from Formula One with a series of small mechanical failures in his last two races keeping him from his 8th world championship. It was a shame as he drove the best of anyone in the last two races. Had it not been for the uncharacteristic engine failure at Japan and the fuel pump failure in qualifying, and the flat tire in the race, his performance would have been easily good enough for a pair of wins. But it was not to be, and Alonzo won the championship.

Michael is the driver that restored everyone with the idea that the driver could make a difference. Maybe it is unfair to Senna and Prost to say that, but their time seemed to be dominated my mechanical superiority of one team over another. There were times that Michael had the best equipment, but there were also times he won with a ride that should have been second tier.

He completely re-wrote the record books. There is no record of significance that he does not own. He restored Ferrari to greatness, and brought along all of his team and teammates. I remember interviews of mechanics in the pre-Schumacher years where it was obvious the wrench turners had no respect for the drivers. The enthusiastic response of the Ferrari crewmembers as Michael made his last pass for his career near the end of the race showed the respect they had for their driver. Michael changed much about Formula One, not the least of which is the perception of the drivers being such premadonas, and their tendency to re-enforce the perception.

The 2007 year will be different, I am not sure how, except that there will be a new driver in the familiar red Ferrari.

NASCAR at Martinsville

I maintain that Martinsville is the last of a breed of tracks that is now gone from Nextel Cup racing. It is the flat half-mile track. These tracks made up most of the top level NACAR circuit at one time, with the super speedways at Charlotte, Daytona, and Darlington being the exceptions. But there are no more Martinsville’s left, other than Martinsville. Bristol is the same size, but it is a different animal entirely.

Martinsville is known as a rough and tumble test of brakes, tight quarters, and patience. But this weekend it ended up being a test of equipment as well as several of the “Chasers” ran into trouble, including the points leader Jeff Burton. Jeff suffered an engine failure in the middle of he race relegating him to a 42nd place finish.

A couple of weeks ago most people were calling Jimmy Johnson “out of it”. But the combination of his win and the bad luck of Harvick and Burton have left Matt Kenseth in the lead and several others knocking on the door, including Johnson.

In other new for the weekend, Ward Burton returned to Nextel Cup racing driving the McClure Racing Lucas Oil sponsored Chevrolet. One of he major players for the weekend was David Reagan. The son of veteran driver Ken Reagan was not in the news for good reason. He was involved in several incidents, most of which he was the cause. As a result NASCAR has not approved him to drive at Atlanta this weekend. Finally was the great news of the good results of Petty Enterprises. Bobby Labonte drove the familiar #43 to a fine third place finish. The #45 car driven by team leader Kyle Petty finished 10th. I had been sometime since there had been two Petty Enterprises entries in the top ten.

Everything Else

In other weekend news the Audi R10’s continued their undefeated string in the ALMS race at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca.

In the Champ Car series Nelson Philippe got his breakthrough win making him the youngest winner in the series.

Sebastian Bourdais did manage to clinch his third series championship, despite trying to throw it away in a passing attempt that nearly took himself and local hero Will Power out of the race.

In this article:

Ackerman? Or not? Does it matter?

there are some of the best explanations of the Ackerman effect in steering I have read anywhere. I have taught people about suspension tuning over the years and when the subject of Ackerman comes up, I can’t give any specifics. It is always difficult to explain all of the problems in applying simple mathematics to calculate what should be ideal. There is always are technical person that it is just impossible to explain all of the variables. Usually the main thing that is impossible to get across is the slip angle of the tires and how different they are between the inside and outside tire, because of the weight transfer. Here is an excellent example in Dave Hinde’s picture of my Shelby:

Notice the difference in the loading of the two front tires. Notice the vast difference in the deflection. This is explained in this article along with most of the other variables. Mathematics can be used to eliminate some of the variables; the best result is going to come from driver feel, the track configuration, all of the variables of the car, and the necessary testing results.

Give it a read, it is well worth it.

It looks like NASCAR is considering running the Car Of Tomorrow (COT) at the Budweiser Shootout the week before the Daytona 500 in February. This would the be first wheel to wheel racing of the COT. The crewchiefs like the idea of getting some additional experience on a restrictor plate track before the official debut in plate form, at Talladega in the fall of 2007. The fall Talladega race is one of the chase races.

The team owners are not thrilled about the expense of having to bring two of the existing style cars to Daytona for the 500 and two COT cars for the Shootout. The drivers have expressed support for the idea, wanting to get the feel of the new car as soon as possible in a non-point situation.

The problem with this idea is that NASCAR is not sure they can get the inspection procedure worked out in time for the February race. Series officials have also ruled out running the COT in Talladega’s spring race.

But NASCAR official Brett Bodine shrugged off concerns about the timing of the debut.

“Talladega is a no-brainer,'’ he said. “All you do is show up there and run wide-open. Handling isn’t even an issue.'’

Keep watching for the final answer. Don’t be surprised if the decision comes after the first of the year.

I bleed Ford blue. The word Ford is a huge part of my life. I am optimistic about Ford’s future, but they are struggling now. I think the new person in charge, Mark Fields, is sharp and should direct them in the right direction. But with that said, I have found him talking about “product” and “units” as opposed to “cars” and “trucks” more and more in these videos. Let me know what you think.

From WorldCarFans.com:

The last generation GT2 was called “the widowmaker”, and the new one could be called “the noisemaker”.

Testing at Germany’s Nürburgring one can hear the GT2 almost half way around the track, but for the true car fan it is instead music to the ears – so it is better to be called “the sound machine”.

While the 4WD 997 Turbo delivers 480 bhp, the rear wheel drive GT2 will come up with at least 500 bhp.

Weighing some 100 to 150 kg less than the Turbo, the GT2 promises to become the ultimate driving machine.

Spy photos of the Porsche 911 gt2

My feelings on Monday are about how the events of Sunday cheated all of the fans of some great competition.

Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari engine expired during the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend giving Fernando Alonzo a big advantage going into the last race of the 2006 Formula One season. The race was developing to exactly what was needed for a last race showdown between the two champions. Both of them has had great seasons, but the fan favorite is Schumacher in his last season of his esteemed career. Now Alonzo has a ten-point advantage. Schumacher must win the race and Alonzo not score any points. According to the race announcers, Schumacher will win the tiebreakers at this point if that is the scenario.

And of course there was Talladega. Brian Vickers may have made a move that could be bad for he career. Everyone has seen the video over and over at this point. While making the move to help his teammate, Jimmy Johnson, complete a pass on the leader, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Vickers managed to tag Johnson’s right rear corner turning him into the side of Dale, Jr. spinning them both out, leaving the win to Vickers.

During the now traditional burnouts, the fans expressed their displeasure with the shower of Budweiser cans and bottles sent Vickers’ way. There was also much boo-ing during the victory lane celebration. Vickers was understandably excited about his first win, but it sounded like he was the only one at the track that felt that way.

Vickers only way out of the situation would have been for him to forget the burnouts, and express a serious mea culpa in Victory Lane. But that didn’t happen. It appears that now Lowe’s Motor Speedway is arranging extra security for Vickers during the upcoming race weekend. One hopes the fans listen to their hero, Dale, Jr., who said this was just a racing accident, and he congratulated Brian on his first win.

But there was actually very good news from Talladega. Juan Pedro Montoya ran a good race in the ARCA to a nice 3rd place finish. It was a good training experience. JPM ran up front, ran in the rear of the field, came through the pack and made a nice save after the car being slightly involved in an incident of others making. Good race for the open wheel star. He will learn more about stock car racing in his next start at the 3/4ths mile Iowa Speedway next weekend. We will be watching.

Lastly Mark Martin ran a great race in the Craftsman truck race to a well-earned victory in the first Craftsman Truck race at Talladega. The only problem with this is that Martin is leaving his Ford rides with Roush for a deal that better meets his personal needs for a reduced schedule. The Ford loyalists are going to have a problem with this. The world is upside down with Elliott and Martin running Chevrolets.