4 ms·

I was surprised to see they use the front bumper splitter as the "start" of the car and not the hood. You would expect teams to game the system and use longer

I was surprised to see they use the front bumper splitter as the "start" of the car and not the hood. You would expect teams to game the system and use longer splitters if photo finishes happen often enough. Tried taking a look at the regulations and it seems that they're not publicly available. https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/comments/jncj3f/why_is_the_nascar_rule_book_not_publicly_available/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NASCAR/comments/jncj3f/why_is_the_n...

_djo_ 2y ago
That’s mitigated a bit by the airflow implications of longer splitters, where a few extra cm might cost you more in drag or downforce reduction than you’d gain in a photo finish like this.
rascul 2y ago
Would be difficult to use the hood. The front edge of it sits farther back than the front of the car and the seam could be difficult to find. I don't think the teams are allowed to change the splitter size.
joezydeco 2y ago
My beef is that NASCAR uses a rolling start. This isn't a horse race or Olympic 50m dash where all racers start in the same place under a starters pistol. Buescher started 4 rows behind Larson. Doesn't that mean he raced the 400 miles faster than Larson?
- lelag 2y ago
  NASCAR is not meant to be logical, it's meant to be an exciting spectacle. Just look at the "lucky dog" rule: it allows the first of the lapped drivers to be put in the main lap during a yellow. The goal is to create a race within the race for this spot. In effect, you can win a race while having traveled 1 or 2 laps less than the others if you benefited from the lucky dog rule once or twice.
  - hrunt 2y ago
    > In effect, you can win a race while having traveled 1 or 2 laps less than the others if you benefited from the lucky dog rule once or twice. The driver still has to travel the full number of laps to win the race, same as any other winner would. The lucky dog just gets to drive faster than anyone else is allowed to during caution. The driver actually has to drive their car all the way around the track. It's the same as if the driver was able to drive faster than the leader in the middle of the race and get their lap back the hard way. No one would say he traveled fewer laps. They would say he drove faster.
    - lelag 2y ago
      You are right, I forgot they would go around during the yellow.
  - joezydeco 2y ago
    Oh, I know. It's all arbitrary at some point. I kind of lost track of the new rules after the playoff rules went into effect.
timw4mail 2y ago
Splitter length is very strictly regulated, as is every part of the stock car. There have been big penalties for much more subtle infractions, especially in the last few seasons with the current car design.
hrunt 2y ago
> You would expect teams to game the system and use longer splitters if photo finishes happen often enough. Tried taking a look at the regulations and it seems that they're not publicly available. NASCAR cars are standardized and measured before and after every race. Failing a race inspection severely penalizes the team (loss of points, driver or crew chief suspensions, fines). Failing a pre-race inspection means the car doesn't race until it passes inspection. Teams aren't allowed to install splitters with different lengths than their competitors. NASCAR, however, will mandate different splitter measurements for different racetracks. Still, all cars at each racetrack must use splitters that match NASCAR's requirements.
ralphc 2y ago
NASCAR fan here. Over the years the measurements of the car have gone from metal templates laying over the car to using lasers, with 1/32 of an inch making a difference.

_djo_ 2y ago

That’s mitigated a bit by the airflow implications of longer splitters, where a few extra cm might cost you more in drag or downforce reduction than you’d gain in a photo finish like this.

rascul 2y ago

Would be difficult to use the hood. The front edge of it sits farther back than the front of the car and the seam could be difficult to find. I don't think the teams are allowed to change the splitter size.

joezydeco 2y ago

My beef is that NASCAR uses a rolling start. This isn't a horse race or Olympic 50m dash where all racers start in the same place under a starters pistol. Buescher started 4 rows behind Larson. Doesn't that mean he raced the 400 miles faster than Larson?

lelag 2y ago
NASCAR is not meant to be logical, it's meant to be an exciting spectacle. Just look at the "lucky dog" rule: it allows the first of the lapped drivers to be put in the main lap during a yellow. The goal is to create a race within the race for this spot. In effect, you can win a race while having traveled 1 or 2 laps less than the others if you benefited from the lucky dog rule once or twice.
- hrunt 2y ago
  > In effect, you can win a race while having traveled 1 or 2 laps less than the others if you benefited from the lucky dog rule once or twice. The driver still has to travel the full number of laps to win the race, same as any other winner would. The lucky dog just gets to drive faster than anyone else is allowed to during caution. The driver actually has to drive their car all the way around the track. It's the same as if the driver was able to drive faster than the leader in the middle of the race and get their lap back the hard way. No one would say he traveled fewer laps. They would say he drove faster.
  - lelag 2y ago
    You are right, I forgot they would go around during the yellow.
- joezydeco 2y ago
  Oh, I know. It's all arbitrary at some point. I kind of lost track of the new rules after the playoff rules went into effect.

timw4mail 2y ago

Splitter length is very strictly regulated, as is every part of the stock car. There have been big penalties for much more subtle infractions, especially in the last few seasons with the current car design.

hrunt 2y ago

> You would expect teams to game the system and use longer splitters if photo finishes happen often enough. Tried taking a look at the regulations and it seems that they're not publicly available. NASCAR cars are standardized and measured before and after every race. Failing a race inspection severely penalizes the team (loss of points, driver or crew chief suspensions, fines). Failing a pre-race inspection means the car doesn't race until it passes inspection. Teams aren't allowed to install splitters with different lengths than their competitors. NASCAR, however, will mandate different splitter measurements for different racetracks. Still, all cars at each racetrack must use splitters that match NASCAR's requirements.

ralphc 2y ago

NASCAR fan here. Over the years the measurements of the car have gone from metal templates laying over the car to using lasers, with 1/32 of an inch making a difference.