Team Equipment Clarifiaction

[edlalu]

I was reading the current issue of Popular Mechanics. There is an article about the Car of Tommorrow. In the article is the following statement: "the wealthiest Cup teams have as many as 18 different cars for NASCAR’s 23 tracks".
I am not a NASCAR fan so I thought I would come to the fans and ask for clarification on this issue. Is this statement correct? How many teams field multiple cars for the season? What are your opinions on this?

Many thanks and enjoy your race season!

[Lee Roy]

Yes. Most of the top NASCAR teams have a primary car and a back-up car for the different types of tracks.

Some of the different track styles are:

Super-speedways like Daytona & Talladega
Short track cars
1 1/2 mile tracks
The concrete surfaced track at Dover
Flat tracks (New Hampshire & Phoenix)
Some even have seperate cars for the two road courses, since one is primarily left hand turns and the other is primarily right hand turns.

And there are other variations that are taken into consideration.

[NASCARWidow]

I was reading the current issue of Popular Mechanics. There is an article about the Car of Tommorrow. In the article is the following statement: "the wealthiest Cup teams have as many as 18 different cars for NASCAR’s 23 tracks".
I am not a NASCAR fan so I thought I would come to the fans and ask for clarification on this issue. Is this statement correct? How many teams field multiple cars for the season? What are your opinions on this?

Many thanks and enjoy your race season!

One of the reasons for going to the COT, in addition to safety, is to cut down on the number of cars a team will need. Most high dollar teams have between 15 and 20 race cars at any one time.

[blakebeatty]

That was additionally the big complaint by Jack (the complainer) Roush was that the CoT would render his hundred or so nextel cup cars useless

[call_me_andrew]

That was additionally the big complaint by Jack (the complainer) Roush was that the CoT would render his hundred or so nextel cup cars useless

Useless? Or the start of ARCA domination?

[RaceFanStan]

Yeah, type of track, size of track, degrees of banking, surface type ... all make for the need of different cars ...

1. SHORT TRACKS (under 1 mile) (Ovals) : (3 short-tracks but all 3 are different !)
Bristol 0.533 mile oval / 36 degree banking in turns
Martinsville 0.526 mile oval / 12 degree banking in turns
Richmond 0.75 mile oval / 14 degree banking in turns

2. INTERMEDIATE TRACKS (at least 1 mile but under 2 miles) :
Ovals
Darlington 1.366 mile oval / 25 & 23 degree banking in turns
Dover 1.0 mile oval / 24 degree banking in turns
Homestead-Miami 1.5 mile oval / 20 degree banking in turns
Loudon 1.058 mile oval / 12 degree banking in turns
Phoenix 1.0 mile oval / 11 & 9 degree banking in turns

Tri-Ovals
Chicagoland 1.5 mile tri-oval / 14 degree banking in turns
Kansas 1.5 mile tri-oval / 15 degree banking in turns
Las Vegas 1.5 mile tri-oval / 12 degree banking in turns

Quad-Ovals
Atlanta 1.54 mile quad-oval / 24 degree banking in turns
Charlotte 1.5 mile quad-oval / 24 degree banking in turns
Texas 1.5 mile quad-oval / 24 degree banking in turns

3. SUPERSPEEDWAYS (2 miles & larger) :
Oval
Indianapolis 2.5 mile oval / 9 degree banking in turns (almost rectangular in shape)

D-Shaped Ovals
California 2.0 mile D-shaped oval / 14 degree banking in turns
Michigan 2.0 mile D-shaped oval / 18 degree banking in turns

Tri-Ovals
Daytona 2.5 mile tri-oval / 31 degree banking in turns
Pocono 2.5 mile tri-oval / 14 & 8 & 6 degree banking in turns
Talladega 2.66 mile tri-oval / 33 degree banking in turns

4. ROAD COURSES (1 has has more left handers & the other has more right handers)
Sonoma 1.99 mile
Watkins Glen 2.45 mile

Track sizes may be similar but what about the banking ?
If the banking is different, it may require a different car.
There are 22 tracks used in Nextel Cup racing ...
only the 1.5 mile tri-oval intermediates (3 tracks) & quad-oval intermediates (3 tracks) are similar.

18 different cars you say ? Sounds about right to me.

[call_me_andrew]

3. SUPERSPEEDWAYS (2 miles & larger) :
Oval
Indianapolis 2.5 mile oval / 9 degree banking in turns (almost rectangular in shape)

Indy has 12 degrees of banking in the turns and 9 degrees on the straights.

[RaceFanStan]

Even at that, Indy requires a special car for the race because it isn't like anywhere else.

BTW, you better tell Indianapolis because they say :
Q. What is the degree of banking in the turns?
A. Each of the four turns on the oval is banked at exactly 9 degrees, 12 minutes, the same dimensions as when the track opened in 1909.
http://www.indy500.com/faq/

[Jonesi]

4. ROAD COURSES (1 has has more left handers & the other has more right handers)
Sonoma 1.99 mile
Watkins Glen 2.45 mile

They are both clockwise, which one has more lefts?

[Lee Roy]

They are both clockwise, which one has more lefts?

Don't know. I just heard this one time when they were talking about some teams having a separate car for each road course.