David Poole has a great summary of what we currently know about 'Partgate'. I think it's safe to state from the media reports that a front sway bar went missing from Roush Fenway Racing last year and that its absence was discovered only when a vendor rep… more »

I've had a number of requests to identify science people should look for at the track before the race weekend starts, so here are few things to watch for this weekend at Martinsville. Martinsville was the second race I spent with the No. 19 team last y… more »

Drew Donnelli asks: Can you offer any insight into the problems JGR seems to have with fuel supply? Thanks for the question, Drew. As usual, with the help of a couple incredibly patient friends, I can provide a little information on the possible caus… more »

A slight errata: This doesn't change anything about the science surrouding the oil tank box cover and how it could provide an aerodynamic advantage, but it does clarify the situation with how the oil system is pressurized. Dan pointed out my error som… more »

We’ve established in Part I and Part II of this series that there are many factors that go into tire performance, some of which Goodyear has control over and others of which they don’t. Goodyear has to determine the combination of tire compound and con… more »

Tires: What Goodyear Can't Control I’ve reproduced the figure from yesterday to reiterate that there are two factors that determine grip: the interaction between the track and the tire, and the force pushing down on the tire. In part I, we covered the… more »

Let’s start by pointing out that tire performance is a really, really complicated issue. There are a lot of variables involved. This post ended up getting way too long, so I’m going to address the issue in two (or three, depending on how part two goes) p… more »

Hey y'all from New Orleans. I'm at the American Physical Society meeting, where I gave a talk today to a bunch of physicists about NASCAR. It was part of a great session that included the physics of motorcycles, steroids in baseball and the physics of s… more »

Roush Fenway Racing came out with a statement about the missing oil tank lid on Wednesday that just begs to be deconstructed scientifically. "The bolt holding the lid in place failed in its purpose as a result of vibration harmonics generated by t… more »

Danny LaDue asks: Can you explain the location of a NASCAR oil tank reservoir and how the lack of one could improve aerodynamics? Thanks for the question, Danny. I can–with a little help from Josh Browne, Chief Race Engineer at Red Bull Racing,… more »

Early in the Las Vegas race, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle were all caught speeding on Pit Road. NASCAR has a speed limit on pit road for safety reasons. At Las Vegas, it's 45 mph. You can go five mph over the speed limit, but after that,… more »