National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing: A Few Questions

Hi there.

I've recently been interested in the NASCAR 'sport' and have become much less ignorant about it while playing Gran Turismo 5. While reading up about it, some questions have rose. I understand that each and every car has exactly the same engine. Am I correct in saying that the only differences are the drivers and customised gear ratios? Also, if all cars are the same, how do Ford, Toyota and Chevrolet make an engine which do exactly the same horsepower and torque? My final inquiry is about the body shell. Again, if these are made by different companies, wouldn't the shell make a difference in air resistance? Don't bash me for this, but while observing all of the advertisements on the NASCAR cars, I was thinking that maybe the bodies are all exactly the same, except that Ford, Toyota and Chevrolet have decided to advertise their company on the vehicles.

Thanks!

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When it comes to both being similar, body and engine, you're thinking of Indy (open wheel) cars. Those engines are provided by one company, that being Honda. As well as the bodies being provided by Honda.

When it comes to NASCAR, there are several different engine providers. Surprisingly, none of the actual manufacters in the sport provide engines to their designated brand. There are independent engine manufacturers, such as Hendrick engines, who provide engines to Hendrick Motorsports and a couple other Chevy based teams. Then there's others like Penske engines, who porvide engines to all Dodge brands. Total, I believe there are around 10 different engine maufacturers who provide engines for the sport. What makes them somewhat equal, are the mandated specs they have to go by provided to them by NASCAR.

As far as bodies go, just like engines, these are provided by multiple body manufactures. But, they have to build these bodies to an exact template provided by NASCAR. These templates are made differently for each car manufacture which make the cars look as "stock" as they can to their street relatives. You would think that one manufacture has an upper hand in this department when it comes to aerodynamics but that's not the case. These bodies, though they look different, act the same as far as aerodynamics go. NASCAR spends countless hours making sure that aerodynamics are equal, so no one has an advantage there.

So really, the thing that gives one driver a better car than the next person, is the suspension and gear ratios they use in the transmission. NASCAR sometimes mandates a specific gear ratio every car has to go by, but that's only on restrictor plate races. Suspension is fair game when it comes to customization. And, of course, the driver is a big key.

I'm not the most technically educated person about the sport but that's a good explanation of how it works. I recommend, if you really want to educate yourself on the subject, look it up on google.

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one other thing though is that in the garage area they say: "it's only cheating if you get caught" which is why a team like Hendricks, who have jimmie johnson, jeff gordon, dale earnhardht jr and mark martin working in the same garage can have such vast differences in racing outcomes. why did jimmie johnson win 5 years in a row if their team gets the same engines, chassis and transmissions as their teammates? the difference is all in how you tweak them.

Exactly Highjakker, it's all about who gets the right setup and gear ratios. Jimmie Johnson has one of the best crew chiefs (Chad Knauss) of all time on his crew. That's why he won all those titles. Say you put Chad with a driver like Kasey Khane, who knows how many titles Kasey would have right now. Not to take anything from Jimmie, he's a great driver, but that guy who's setting the car up every week plays the biggest role.

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Well, this is interesting. I never knew that NASCAR was this restricted. I don't care much for NASCAR, since it seems to be a very boring "to the left, to the left x500" type of racing. But now, hearing that you can't even customize and tune the car to your liking... Well, that's even more boring. You would think that since these big name companies are in it, they would be brining in the latest and greatest of their engine and transmission technology to the track. Speaking of racing - do these cars even turn to the right at all? :D

Originally Posted by pixel8rberry

Well, this is interesting. I never knew that NASCAR was this restricted. I don't care much for NASCAR, since it seems to be a very boring "to the left, to the left x500" type of racing. But now, hearing that you can't even customize and tune the car to your liking... Well, that's even more boring. You would think that since these big name companies are in it, they would be brining in the latest and greatest of their engine and transmission technology to the track. Speaking of racing - do these cars even turn to the right at all? :D

You've got it wrong. NASCAR does let teams tune their cars. They can change their gear ratios in the transmissions that let them use their engines to their fullest potential. As well as changing their suspension setups to make it handle like they want.

The main things that NASCAR mandates are the specs of the engines and the body. Other than that, it's fair game when it comes to everything else. And all the cars have to weigh exactly the same.

And yes, they do turn right on a couple tracks. These tracks are called road courses.

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Originally Posted by pixel8rberry

Well, this is interesting. I never knew that NASCAR was this restricted. I don't care much for NASCAR, since it seems to be a very boring "to the left, to the left x500" type of racing. But now, hearing that you can't even customize and tune the car to your liking... Well, that's even more boring. You would think that since these big name companies are in it, they would be brining in the latest and greatest of their engine and transmission technology to the track. Speaking of racing - do these cars even turn to the right at all? :D

Yes, NASCAR cars do turn right on tracks such as Pocono and Road America, which seems rather complex for stock cars. Check out this link which has a list of tracks which NASCAR operate at. Most of them are oval tracks and indeed, NASCAR need nearly or as mush thought and technology as F1 sometimes.

Actually Joel, they don't turn right at Pocono. The road courses they go to are Watkins Glen(Cup and Nationwide), Infineon (Cup), Road America and Montreal (both Nationwide).

Ah I see, only did a quick check on the site. My bad! And if you didn't know that NASCAR was restricted, pixel8rberry, F1 are also restricted in how their engines can be tuned and the amount of output they're allowed. I don't watch much of F1 or NASCAR either, just thought it to be be interesting to learn a bit more about them. The fact that NASCAR are restricted results in higher concentration for driving and awareness. On the oval tracks, it is important to draft opponents to overtake, since their engine outputs are near enough the same. I know it's just a game, but on GT5, I tend to leave myself behind one or two cars until the last lap, where I use drafting on my opponents to 'slingshot' my way round the last corner. Not as easy as I first thought as everything's got to be just right for the situation.

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