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