Lesson 2: NASCAR Glossary
Cheating With Weight and Height
Cheating has always been a big part of NASCAR racing. The sanctioning body sets the rules for all teams to follow in order to equalize the racing field to where all competitors have a fair chance and no one has an edge or advantage over the other. This may sound good in theory, but it usually isn’t the way it works.
One of the biggest aspects of racing that gets picked on in cheating is “weight.” Please refer to the definition of weight in the glossary for more detail. NASCAR sets tight rules for engine building, so even though there are several different engine builders within the sport, the horsepower that these engines develop don’t vary all that much. They usually all put out horsepower in the 730 to 780 range.
NASCAR mandates that all Cup cars must weigh 3400 pounds, including the driver and all of his safety gear, when the cars enter sanctioned competition. All cars are inspected and weighed by NASCAR prior to any type of competition. Teams have gone to great length to find ways to cheat with the weight of their cars. In other words, if you have a car that weighs 3300 pounds racing against 42 other cars that weigh 3400 pounds, the 3300 pound car will have a definite advantage. The same horsepower that all of the cars basically produce will be moving the lighter car faster than the rest of the field of 3400 pound cars.
Just a couple of seasons ago, a Cup crew chief was fined heavily and suspended for several weeks for designing a heavy suspension part that would fall off of the car during the race, making the car lower and lighter. I remember this very well, because it made me livid to think that a person would endanger the lives of his fellow competitors by allowing a heavy metal part to fall onto the track creating a dangerous situation. NASCAR thought so too, that’s why the fine was so steep for the culprit.
There have been other successful attempts at cheating that have been rather humorous. One former Winston Cup Champion who is now retired related the story of how his team used to beat the odds by cheating. This particular driver had a lead racing helmet that the team hung in the car during inspection. As the cars were sitting on pit road preparing for the start of the race, a crew member would switch out the lead helmet with the driver’s regular helmet. The same team has a system where they would add the required weight to their frame rails with lead BB’s that were designed to come out of the car when the inertia of the car in banked corners forced them out of holes drilled in the frame rails. The BB’s would fall harmlessly onto the track and roll into the infield grass. Maybe that’s why this particular driver won three Winston Cup Championships.
Other attempts at cheating have bent the rule that mandates the height of the car for competition. NASCAR mandates that the car’s height must me 51 inches for competition. The lower the car, the more it hugs the ground giving it better downforce because there isn’t as much air traveling under it. This gives the cars a definite advantage, especially in cornering, although it also enhances speed in the straight stretches of the track. Teams have been fined numerous times for failing to pass the 51 inch height inspection at the end of a race. If the car is found to be at least an eighth of an inch too low in post race inspection, NASCAR will levy a fine and take away driver’s and owner’s points from the team for the rules infraction.
