A dummy’s introduction to auto racing

This entry is a near copy of something I posted recently to a discussion. It’s mostly basic stuff, and I figured I could get some more mileage out of it here… ;-)

1. NASCAR is a show, first and foremost…and at the same time it’s a race. It’s entertainment, it’s for the fans. So yeah, they throw a yellow caution flag now and then to bunch up the cars, to keep it interesting…of course they do.

2. NASCAR runs simple cars and relatively simple technology; that’s OK. The cars are understandable and relatable to the fans. It’s just an entertainment formula that works. And there is no ‘best’ racing series, either. They’re just different. Watch what you like, and don’t be insulted by the rest. They all serve some segment of race fans, and they all serve different advertisers in particular ways.

3. Every series has at least some world-class drivers…there are special talents everywhere. But no, there’s no fair way to compare them because switching cars requires too much specialized learning about the nuances of each particular car. It does not mean that Driver X suddenly forgot to drive if he goes to a new series and looks lost for awhile. Just accept that the great ones are all up there together at a special level; they’re in the club. And relax.

Orange holes in back window are insert points for suspension adjustment tools

4. You Need To Know if you don’t already: racing is about tires, and how well you use them. All racing is. Surprising fact, critical to understanding car set-up: when you “put a car on the scales”, meaning put a scale under each corner, you can and likely will get 4 different weights. Yes, the weight of the car at each of the 4 corners is different…and it’s adjustable! And that’s the deal (ver-r-ry simplified) in getting a car to work best at whatever course you’re on, because a tire with more weight on it works better; it is less likely to lose traction and begin to slide. And the weight is then managed by springs and shocks, affected by downforce, elevation changes as they happen, #laps on the tire, etc…in NASCAR especially there are adjustments at every stop, and they are reported on during the broadcast, and you can see cars get better, or worse, at each stop. When you get hooked into that level of detail, it gets pretty interesting to watch a race. There are whole books written about how to approach setting up a car; just take away from this that there are many variables and they are interdependent, and it’s difficult.

5. Forgive me for so much NASCAR, but they get dumped on the most…I was in fact up at 3am for live F1 Malaysia, I’ve  raced and won some FF1600, so actually roadracing is my first love.


6. The perfect set-up is almost impossible to hit on because you’re dealing with what’s called a non-linear equation. Or in terms I understand, it’s like the Whack-A-Mole game, where you knock one thing down and another one pops up. For a rough example: you can change tire pressures and the car goes faster but then maybe tire wear gets real bad; switch it back and change the ‘weight jacker’ at the left rear, the car is slower, we need to try some air back into the right rear; now it feels like the car doesn’t transfer enough weight to the right rear, we need to change the Panhard bar adjustment, etc…sort of chasing your tail, but with decades worth of experience and notes, and college-graduate engineers on staff, all trying to find a balance of all the changeable factors to make the car fast. Then you’re the fastest car out there for 10 laps, and clouds move in for the rest of the day. Track temp drops 15 degrees. Start over.

7 and last. Winged cars are solidly planted in high-speed turns, with the wings pushing down and all, which allows them to corner at high speeds. That’s part of the beauty of their show; those things fly. In fact, doesn’t (F1 car designer) Adrian Newey have a background in planes, or aerodynamics? Well, lest you think the stock car fellows are just tooling around in circles, actually these guys are often in a 4-wheel drift at 175-190 mph, if and when they really push for a couple laps, and you know that ain’t easy. It’s Sunday, but it’s no Sunday drive (sorry, couldn’t resist).


If point #4 (or anything else) grabbed your interest and you want to know more, just paying attention all the way through a race will give you a great intro, because the broadcast is dominated by talk of changing conditions and changes to car setups. This is a good thing. There are lots of books that cover it too, and when I think of 2-3 that I think are good ones to recommend, I’ll highlight them in a future entry.

The civilization formula

 

I’m going to start with a little auto racing talk, but don’t worry, it comes right back around to real life.

The top racing series in the world is Formula One. Most people have heard of it. Or maybe you’ve heard of Formula Ford, a very popular and somewhat affordable starter class for the same kind of roadracing. Or you’ve certainly heard of NASCAR, the extremely popular oval track (and a couple road courses) series for “stock cars.” NASCAR is also a formula car, although it didn’t start out that way, and is not usually referred to as such. So…what’s the deal? Well, in the context of auto racing, a “formula” is a set of rules established by the organizers of the series which define all the specifications, and set all the parameters, to which the cars will be built. These are very much purpose-built cars, defined and created out of thin air, usually with an eye toward attracting factory (major auto makers) participation by giving them an arena in which to showcase their products and/or technology.

I love the parallels between that and a society, a civilization…because one way to define a civilization is that we are a group of people who function by agreeing to and operating under a set of rules. Some are codified in written law, some are accepted moral standards, some just implicit in our group understanding of acceptable conduct, but taken all together, they make up Formula Human. That’s how we all manage to coexist; the rules are clearly defined, we’re all aware of them, and we’re all aware that they are enforced. We don’t have to worry that our land will be stolen from us, or our house will, or our business, or that the angry guy at work keeps a butcher knife in one hand all the time…we operate at a higher level than that; we’re civilized.

Of course, other civilizations have evolved differently in various parts of the world. They still operate under a set of rules, just not the same ones we have. Maybe Formula Human is the name of the umbrella organization, and the individual societies are named Formula UK, Formula USA, etc. Same deal, different country.

To say that one is civilized or not refers to one’s ability to adhere to the laws and rules we’ve agreed upon…the formula. That’s the key to how we live. The formula gives us the framework for our lives. It gives us the structure to live closely with one another, the freedom to live as we choose, and the security we need to enjoy it all.

Through the ages we’ve defined and refined the laws we live by, while at the same time the formula has always defined us.

Formula Human.