29.08.2007, 12:09
In this part...
NASCAR stock cars have no doors, no speedometers, and no stereo with a sub-woofer. If these facts bewilder you, dive into this part. Tucked into nearly every paragraph, you can find information about NASCAR race cars and how they differ from passenger cars. In the end, you realize why it’s impractical and impossible to enter your four-door Ford Taurus in the Daytona 500, even though a herd Ford Tauruses will be racing.
Even if you’re fluent in several languages, understanding the talk of NASCAR-talk still be difficult. Sway bar? Carburetor restrictor plate? Engine dynamometer? These phrases are commonly used in NASCAR racing, but not at your bingo parlor or hair salon. You can’t even find most of them in your dictionary. But never fear, I define those words and plenty more in this part.
In addition to helping you understand the basic components of a stock car, this part fills you in on the rules and inspections of NASCAR racing. You meet all the people who have to follow those rules, including the important members of race teams. You also find out that I do other things besides drive a race car on Sundays!
Chapter 4
What Makes Them Stock Cars?
In This Chapter
• Finding out what a stock car is
• Looking at a car’s body and components
• Checking out the gauges inside the car
• Taking a look at the seats
• Examining tire differences
• Speaking of technology
NASCAR racing has changed since its early days of passenger cars with numbers painted or taped on the sides – the cars raced were often the family car you drove to the track. Races featured cars that fans could go out and buy off the showroom floor of the local dealership the same day they saw them race. Manufacturers wanted their cars to win so they could benefit from a unique type of advertising – as the saying went, “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.”
Today, however, the cars are anything but “stock.” They are custom built from the ground up. The only thing vaguely stock about them is the general shape of the body. Teams have engineered ways to make the cars’ bodies more aerodynamic, devised methods of producing more horsepower while keeping the engine sturdy, and, with much help and guidance from NASCAR, have devised new safety features to further protect the drivers. After all these innovations, describing the differences between miniature golf and the PGA tour.
In this chapter, I discuss the major differences between passenger cars and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series cars, giving you an overview of what you see on the track every weekend.