All About NASCAR & Auto Racing Racing Jargon & Terms

All About NASCAR &
Auto Racing Jargon & Terms
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Racing Jargon & Terms
For Those New To The Sport

Aerodynamics - This refers to how the air moves over, around, and under the racecar

Apex - The middle of a turn or corner

Apron - The section around the bottom of the track that is usually flat in comparison to the racing surface

Bank/Banking - Refers to the corners/turns that are tilted and referenced in degrees

Back Marker - A driver that consistently runs at the back of the pack

Blue Oval - A Ford (looks like the Ford emblem)

Bow Tie - A Chevrolet (looks like the Chevy emblem)

Brain Bucket - A helmet

Bubble - A driver who is sitting on the "bubble" is the slowest driver of the top 25 during qualifying

Catch Fence - This is the huge fence that surrounds tracks and its purpose is to "catch" flying debris that may otherwise fly into the crowd of spectators

Caution Period - Yellow flag is waved due to an accident, debris etc. requiring that the drivers reduce speed and follow behind the pace car until the incident is resolved

Dirty Air - Air turbulence behind or beside the car often creating a loss of downforce

DNF - Did Not Finish. This means that the driver failed to complete an event. This may be due to a blown engine or crash etc.

Down Force - Refers to how hard the racecar is pressed down onto the track created by the "aerodynamics" of the car such as the "spoiler" this is useful in increasing traction and speed

Drag - Creates wind resistance and reduces speed (increased "down force" can also cause reduced speed)

Drafting - Fast moving car creates a low pressure area behind it. A car following very closely behind can actually take advantage of "the draft" and have their car pulled along at the same speed enabling them to lift off the accelerator a little and conserve fuel

Field - Refers to the entire group of cars on the racetrack

Grid - The order that the cars start in also known as the Starting Line-up

Happy Hour - This an hour long practice session usually held the day before a Winston Cup race. It's the last chance that the crews will have to make final checks and adjustments on the cars before a race.

Hung Out to Dry - When a racecar gets out of the draft at superspeedways such as Daytona and Talladega where drafting is essential

Horsepower - Measurment of an engine's output. Example: Mid sized family vehicle has approx 150-200 horsepower. Winston Cup cars have a horsepower of 750.

Infield - The area in the middle of a racetrack where the garage area is located. During a racing event it's filled with tractor trailer rigs and mobile homes

Infield Care Center - Medical infirmiry located in the infield where all drivers are transported by ambulance following a crash and evaluated for injuries

Inside Line - Refers to the shortest distance around the track which typically is at the bottom of the track by the "apron"

Loose - A condition that drivers experience when going into turns creating a steering problem. If a car is "loose" it tends for the rear end to try and move up the track causing a potenial for a spin. However, a "loose" cars tends to be a faster car.

Man on the move - Refers to a driver that is passing other cars and moving toward the front of the pack with consistency

NASCAR - National Association For Stock Car Auto Racing

Pack - Refers to a group of racecars on the track

Pole - A driver on the pole has the first starting position on the inside of the track

Push - Also referred to as "tight" meaning that the car doesn't want to turn in the corners

Qualifying - Cars must qualify to participate in a race. Qualifying normally takes place 1-2 days before the race and the drivers take turns running 1-2 qualifying laps depending on the track. Qualifying is sometimes televised live depending on the track for that weeks race

Provisional Starting Position - a driver that has failed to quailfy for a race due to inadequate speed may receive a provisional starting position in the back of the field based on owner points or a past championship

Rain Tires - These are tires with tread that would be used on a wet track. At this time the only tracks that have been considered for Rain Tires have been the Road Courses.

Restrictor Plate - As the name implies this is a plate with holes bore into it that fits between the carborator and intake manifold restricting the airflow into the engine which reduces the speed of a racecar. The smaller the holes, the slower the speed. The restrictor plate has historically been used at 2 tracks Daytona and Talledega. Without the restrictor plates at these tracks the racecars speeds would easily exceed 200mph.

Roof Flaps - There are two of these on top of a racecar and they flip up in the event that a car is spinning and going backwards thereby preventing the car from going airborne and possibly flipping

Rub - Refers to coming in contact with another racecar ever so slightly.

Scuffed Tires - Tires that have had a few laps put on them

Splash-n-Go - Racecar pulls into it's pit just long enough for a little bit of gas

Slicks - Racing tires

Sticker Tires - Brand new tires that still have the manufactuer's (Goodyear) sticker on them

Tight - Same as Push. You will hear the drivers use both terms, but they mean the same thing.

Turkey Walk - This is reference to when a car going into a turn begins to wobble from side to side.

NASCAR Inspection Process

Measure the overall tread width of the cars

Check the side skirts

Check the fuel cell

Check the rear deck lid height

Check the spoiler

Check the radiator

Check the roof flaps

Disconnect the rear shocks

Add 150 pounds of weight and check the quarter panel heights (includes underbody check)

Check the spoiler dimensions, angle and thickness

Check the air cleaner, cowl, oil pumps to make sure they work as required by the rule book

Obtain fuel sample

Measure the body with the nose to tail template (additional templates used in the inspection process prior to the car hitting the track for practice)

Check the weight of the car (1,600 lbs minimum right side weight)

Check the roof height (51 inches)

Check the air dam height, side skirt and frame clearances

Rivet the front air dam in place...rivet two straps on the deck lid to prevent it from being open

Escort the car to pit road where it becomes the team's responsibility once again.

A Few Rules

The official NASCAR rules and regulations are not made available to the general public or to the media. NASCAR reserves the right to disseminate those regulations only to those teams it deems of merit as seriously contending participants.
Disclaimer: We will change the rules at our discretion when but limited to because of race length, race conditions, track temperature, air temperature, time zones, area codes, zip codes, drivers, owners, crew chiefs, tide movements, full moon, mood swings, global warming, snowfall, cloud cover, bird migration, etc...

The Winston Cup series used to be known as Grand National. The name was changed in 1970. Busch Grand National now refers to the NASCAR series which is the main feeder series for Winston Cup. The Busch sponsorship started in 1985. Winston Cup is considered the premier series in NASCAR. There are a lot of Winston Cup drivers who double-up between the two series, but Busch Grand National is sort of a lesser major league, somewhat akin to the IHL to the NHL in ice hockey.

Engines

NASCAR Winston Cup engines today generally use pistons manufactured by J&E, Wiseco, Ross and a couple of others. There are usually very few factory (i.e. Ford or Chevy) parts used in/on the entire car, although quite a few of the engine components are from the manufacturers. For most parts, any supplier could be used -- even Mercedes produced pistons could be used in either a Ford or Chevy given the correct bore diameter and wrist pin placement, rod length and crankshaft stroke.
The engine block and head castings are usually bought in rough form to conform to the casting number rules required by NASCAR. The blocks are special alloy materials such as higher than normal tin content and extra webbing area for strength around the main bearings. The heads are aluminum alloy and also much different than any production heads. Extra material is generally available for various teams to port them in different ways and to bore the valve guides just the way they want them. The engines also are always 358 c.i. (bore x bore x 0.07854 x stroke x 8) and 12:1 compression:

compression is the reduction in volume and an increase of pressure of the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder before it's ignited by the spark plug. It's produced by the motion of the piston as it travels up toward the engine's cylinder head -- after the air/fuel mixture enters the cylinder.

a compression ratio is a ratio of the cylinder volume enclosed by the piston at its outermost position (top) to the volume enclosed by it at its innermost position (bottom).

But for various tracks the torque output is tailored by variations in bore and stroke ratio (engine bore is the inside diameter of the cylinder and stroke is the amount of distance the piston travels in the cylinder from top to bottom or vice versa) to get the performance combination for acceleration off the turns or straightaway speed as desired by the particular driver/team preference. Since many teams were running 17.5-18:1 compression at non restrictor-plate tracks, less horsepower means less speed, but it doesn't necessarily reduce throttle response, a major criticism and flaw of the dreaded restrictor plate.

Restrictor plates are aluminum with four 29/32 inch holes. They are placed between the carburetor and intake manifold on an engine. The carburetors used in Winston Cup have four 1 9/16 inch diameter barrels. When this 29/32 inch restrictor plate is installed, the air-flow into the engine is restricted, thus reducing horsepower. Restrictor plates were mandated on Winston Cup cars at Talladega and Daytona in 1988. NASCAR first attempted to slow speeds after Bobby Allison's car became airborne and crashed into the spectator fence at Talladega in May of 1987. NASCAR first tried smaller carburetors (for the July races at both tracks) but decided on the restrictor plate to begin the 1988 season. The original plates had 1 inch holes. Now, they're down to 29/32 inch. The advent of the flaps (full operational air deflectors), used to keep a car from going airborne once it starts to travel backwards, has almost made the restrictor plates unnecessary. But because of Irvan's 1994 accident at Michigan, these are unlikely to be disappearing any time soon. Speed is the only thing fading, check out these Daytona qualifying speeds.

1959 140.121

1960 149.892

1961 155.709

1962 156.999

1963 160.943

1964 174.910

1965 171.151

1966 175.165

1967 180.831

1968 189.222

1969 188.901

1970 194.015

1971 182.744

1972 186.632

1973 185.662

1974 185.017

1975 185.827

1976 183.456

1977 188.048

1978 187.536

1979 196.049

1980 194.099

1981 194.624

1982 196.317

1983 198.864

1984 201.848

1985 205.114

1986 205.039

1987 210.364

1988 198.823

1989 196.996

1990 196.515

1991 195.955

1992 192.213

1993 189.426

1994 190.158

1995 193.498

1996 189.510

1997 189.813

1998 192.415

1999 195.067

2000 191.091

2001 183.565

2002 185.831

The Frame

Most shops buy their frames prefabricated from a frame supplier. The frame consists of a structure of round and square steel tubing of varying thickness. The bulk of the structure surrounds the driver. This part of the frame -- the roll cage -- is made of the thickest tubing and is designed to stay together, protecting the driver during any type of crash.
The front and rear sections of the frame, called the front clip and the rear clip, are built from thinner steel tubing so that they will crush when the car hits another car or a wall. In addition to being collapsible, the front clip is designed to push the engine out of the bottom of the car -- rather than into the driver's compartment -- during an accident.
When the frame comes into the shop, the firewall (the metal panel dividing the engine compartment from the driver's compartment) and floor panels are welded in, along with various mounting brackets for things like the engine, suspension, seat, fuel cell and body.

Body-Chassis
Busch and Winston Cup bodies are both based on American-made full-size passenger cars and have to look at least something like the cars we drive on the streets. Both divisions also have to abide by NASCAR's "three-year" rule. That means that no car body can be more than three model years old.
The Body

The process of making the body for a NASCAR race car is incredibly labor-intensive. The shape of the car is mostly determined by NASCAR rules. These rules are encapsulated in a set of 30 templates, each shaped to fit a different contour of the car. For instance, the biggest template fits over the center of the car from front to back. When the template is laid on the car, the gap between the template and the car cannot exceed the specified tolerance. Each template is marked on its edge with a colored line. If the line is red, then the gap must be less than 0.07 inches (0.18 cm). If the line is blue, the gap must be less than 0.25 inches (0.64 cm). If the line is green, the gap must be less than 0.5 inches (1.27 cm). The templates actually allow a little leeway in the design of the car. Because 30 templates are not enough to cover every inch of the body, some areas between template locations are not strictly controlled by NASCAR.

Many or most teams use the roof and windshield post sheet metal from factory production to obtain proper profile and height as these parts are difficult to form by hand. The hoods, roofs, and trunk lids come from the auto manufacturers, and the "floor pans" (floorboards) are stamped from an original mold and are provided by suppliers. The bumpers can come either from the manufacturer or an "aftermarket" supplier.
All other sheet metal (no fiberglass, aluminum or exotic stuff like titanium's allowed) pieces are created by race team fabricators. The plastic nose and tail bumper covers are after market parts but the remainder of the body panels are made by trimming and then hand-rolling flat sheet metal between the rollers of an English wheel, which slowly bends and curves the metal for the fenders, doors and quarter panels until the contour matches the templates and fits on the car.

After the pieces are shaped, they are welded to the car and to each other, using the templates to check their location. The seams between pieces are welded and then ground down so that when the car is finished, it is one smooth, seamless piece. The doors don't even open. After the car body is installed and ground smooth, the car is primed and painted.
All of the decals are installed, including headlight decals (NASCAR cars don't have headlights), which helps make the race car look more like a street car.
According to the Winston Cup Rules Digest in Winston Cup Scene, Winston Cup cars must follow these guidelines:

The cars in both divisions must be neat in appearance and the interior must be painted. The original exterior dimensions of all the bodies must remain as manufactured, except for changes that may be necessary for tire clearance. The body cannot be offset on the frame. Rocker and quarter panels cannot be notched for exhaust pipes. Cars must remain standard in appearance.

OOf course, NASCAR retains the right to determine what standard in appearance means. In October 1996, ground clearance was increased for both Chevy and Pontiac. Decklid spoiler height was decreased for Chevy and Pontiac and increased for Ford. In its struggle to promote even competition, NASCAR will continue to fiddle with the spoiler sizes, air-dam clearances, roof heights and other body dimensions. Fine-tuning????? of each model will of course continue until every car on the track looks alike.
Windshields also have to be stock, or as NASCAR puts it, "standard production laminated glass or hard-coated polycarbonate windshields with a minimum one-quarter-inch thickness." It, however, is OK to install an eighth-inch-thick polycarbonate (plastic) windshield under the true windshield inside the car. This second windshield is for added protection and is supposed to keep foreign objects that might hit the glass windshield from coming into the driver's compartment. The rear window has to be in place, but it's plastic and not glass. Also, for tracks bigger than 1.5 miles, a full, one-piece window has to be in place on the car's right side. That's to keep air at high speeds from rushing through the car and making it unstable to the point where it could flip over. Otherwise, door windows aren't permitted, but a "nylon mesh window screen must be installed on the left-side door glass opening."

Weight Allowances

There is a 3,400-pound minimum vehicle weight. The minimum is 1,600 pounds on the right side for oval tracks or a minimum of 1,600 pounds on either side at road courses. Add a 200-pound base driver weight, essentialy creating a minimum weight for vehicle and driver of 3,600 pounds. Adding the drivers' weight to the minimum means that the car must still weigh a minimum of 3,400 pounds, making the lighter drivers carry additional weight to reach the 3,600-pound minimum for car and driver. If a driver weighs 155 pounds, he will have to carry 50 pounds of additional weight. Trickle weighs about 185 pounds.

The driver with the fastest qualifying speed selects his pit space first. Most will choose the first pit stall, the one closest to the white line at the exit of pit road, in order to have a good position exiting the pits. The rest of the drivers choose pits based on the order in which they qualified for a race.
Inner and Outer Tires

On tracks that are more than 1 mile (1.6 km) long, where speeds are faster, NASCAR rules require that tires contain an inner liner. This is essentially a second tire mounted inside the first tire. It mounts to the rim and has its own separate air supply. If the outer tire blows, the inner tire is still intact, allowing the driver to bring the car to a controlled stop.
Different Compounds for Different Tracks

NASCAR regulates which tire compounds are used on each track. The tire compound is the material the tire is made from -- a softer compound can provide more grip but wears faster, while a harder compound will last longer. Each track causes tires to wear differently, and the inside tires wear differently than the outside tires. Track surface, number of turns, tightness of turns and type of banking are all factors that determine how a tire will wear. Since tires are so critical for safety, NASCAR and Goodyear have determined the best compounds for the inside and outside tires for each track, and these are the tire compounds that the teams are required to use.
To save some money, Cup teams are limited to using only three sets (4 tires) for practice and qualifying. A fourth set is allowed for teams who run in second-round qualifying. Additionally, NASCAR has the right to inspect and impound all tires and wheels, and cars in both Busch and Winston Cup must start the race on the tires they used in qualifying.

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