Critics are trying to figure out why NASCAR ratings are down 15 percent from last season. The biggest drop in viewership since the sport’s gargantuan TV contract in 2001 is significant enough to raise eyebrows.
But don’t despair, race fans. I’ve figured out the crux of the problem. And to think, it all boils down to one lesson:
Without risk, there is no reward.
Sounds so simple … and it is. Racing has always had a…Â Details
To Boost Power, Nascar Teams Spend Millions on Engine Lubricants; Calling ‘William the Chemist’
The most advanced piece of technology in a Nascar vehicle these days isn’t its engine, its suspension or anything made of carbon fiber. It’s the motor oil.
Joe Gibbs Racing, a team that owns three top-level Sprint Cup cars, has spent about $1 million a year over the past decade to perfect its motor oil. As a result, its engines have squeezed out an extra 10 horsepower, a roughly 2% increase that can be a serious advantage in Nascar races, where the typical margin of victory is about one second.
With Nascar increasingly cracking down on the use of technology in the sport to cut costs, motor oil is one of the last places teams can innovate without restraint. Companies like Shell, Quaker State and Mobil also make special oils packed with synthetic lubricants, new polymers and experimental molecules for the teams they sponsor.
All this has spawned a culture of secrecy…Â Details
Since NASCAR introduced its new car, bump stops have become one of the biggest factors in success and failure on the track.
Scene sat down with Penske Racing crew chief Travis Geisler – who leads Sam Hornish Jr.’s No. 77 team – to find out more about bump stops.
NASCAR Scene: Why are bump stops such a big deal these days?
TG: The main thing bump stops are used for is to control your front travel. Obviously with the splitter on the new cars, the amount that your front end is off the ground becomes very critical, because most of your downforce is made with the front splitter.
The thing bump stops allow us to do…Â Details
NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers Brendan Gaughan (#62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet) and Scott Wimmer (#40 Chevrolet) went from behind the wheel to behind the reel yesterday off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia. In the area to promote the Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Friday, May 1, the drivers had an adventurous excursion in the Chesapeake Bay (photos attached).
“We had an exciting day,†said Wimmer. “We got to go out in the Chesapeake Bay. Richmond International Raceway put on a great program here. We got to go out fishing and actually caught fish. That was pretty exciting and I had a lot of fun doing it.â€
“It was pretty neat,†said Gaughan… Details