Car setup also is important, i think that the way those cars are set up for racing doesn't allow them to race under rain safely.

Even IRL does not race under rain on ovals. Even with all the downforce.

Quote from Bumpdrafter :

Car setup also is important, i think that the way those cars are set up for racing doesn't allow them to race under rain safely.

Change to a wet setup.

Does NASCAR have a parc fermé-type system before the race?

Quote from Bumpdrafter :

Even IRL does not race under rain on ovals. Even with all the downforce.

Downforce or not, why can't they just slow down?

A post from other forum, about the same subject:

Quote :

Its pretty straightforward actually. Those cars are very very heavy and travel at very high speeds. Everyone's seen what happens when they spin in the dry. It takes a long time for those cars to stop sliding and the drivers following behind are often collected because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Racing in the rain on ovals would cause all sorts of problems.

They are at the very limit of adhesion on slicks, and those limits would become much more difficult to control with the greatly reduced traction of rain tires and rain. Those big heavy racecars have very little downforce (in comparison to say, open wheel cars or sports racers), meaning mechanical grip is essentially everything. Any reduction in mechanical "stick" would make the cars way less stable and much more likely to break away and drill the wall. The cars following any incident would have less adhesion to attempt avoidance manuvers. Heavy braking in the rain would be a constant receipe for disaster.

Combine that with problems like track drainage, difficulty hitting pit boxes, spray, puddles, no traction control, reduced visibility, etc. etc. and you have an impossible situation. I'm sure NASCAR will continue to do studies with rain tires on road courses, but bet the farm you'll never see stock cars race in the rain on ovals. Just way too dangerous. Speeds would be way down too.
-Mirror

That pretty much sums it up.

Quote from MR_B :

If a formula one chassis was to have a crash on these American oval circuits, how would the vehicle fair? Is it fair to say they would have a higher survival rate than nascar?

You'll have to ask Ralf about that one..

Also consider that most of the lists posted concerning deaths in stock car racing include more than just Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup. I also see trucks, grand national, and unrelated incidents. Also note that the nascar season has twice the races, twice the number of cars on track, and lasts an hour or two longer. In reality, amateur racing kills many more participants per year than in the pro ranks.

That being said, I would feel much safer in a stock car than an F1. Not that I have any first hand basis for my comment, I'm merely thinking about the distance between my squishy bits and danger.

Give it a shot, David. There's a reason that there's a net influx of drivers to this style of racing rather than outflux.

Quote from Lateralus :

Change to a wet setup.

Does NASCAR have a parc fermé-type system before the race?



Downforce or not, why can't they just slow down?

It's also for the fans who pay good money to see a good race. I wouldn't want to sit in the rain and watch cars running at 60% of their capacity. When it does rain, they try there best to dry the track and run the same day, or wait until monday.

As for the parc ferme, I think what comes close is the impound proceedure. Often the garage area is locked over night so that nobody can get to the cars. This also applies to the race teams themselves. They cannot make changes to the cars typically after 5pm the night before the race, and cannot change the car in any way before the start of the race. They can put air in the tires and inspect the car to see if anything happend over night. Altering the car or changing parts causes a driver to have to start from the back of the pack. In fact, changing major drive components after qualifying also results in having to start from the rear. Remember, 43 cars start the race. You might end up next to Robby Gordon or some other hooligan.

Quote from PAracer :

As for the parc ferme, I think what comes close is the impound proceedure. Often the garage area is locked over night so that nobody can get to the cars. This also applies to the race teams themselves. They cannot make changes to the cars typically after 5pm the night before the race, and cannot change the car in any way before the start of the race. They can put air in the tires and inspect the car to see if anything happend over night. Altering the car or changing parts causes a driver to have to start from the back of the pack. In fact, changing major drive components after qualifying also results in having to start from the rear. Remember, 43 cars start the race. You might end up next to Robby Gordon or some other hooligan.

The F1 system is nearly identical. Thanks for the info.

Quote from PAracer :

It's also for the fans who pay good money to see a good race. I wouldn't want to sit in the rain and watch cars running at 60% of their capacity.

Would it really be that much?

I guess that's what it boils down to - whether they'd be able to achieve racing speeds. If they had to drive ovals at 40mph in the wet...

The only F1 race I've ever seen in person was a partially wet race, and it was a pretty good one because of it. We didn't mind standing in the rain.

Quote from Lateralus :

Would it really be that much?

Very likely. Even more likely if its a short oval like Martinsville, or even New Hampshire.

Well, tickets are $125-$160 at Bristol. That's pretty high considering seats for the U.S. Grand Prix(2004) was $75-150 if i remember correctly. Only 2 section were above $140, and the rest around $100. So i think NASCAR is pretty pricy compared to F1.

Quote from Rappa Z :

Well, tickets are $125-$160 at Bristol. That's pretty high considering seats for the U.S. Grand Prix(2004) was $75-150 if i remember correctly. Only 2 section were above $140, and the rest around $100. So i think NASCAR is pretty pricy compared to F1.

Comparing ticket prices doesn't work when you only look at the US Grand Prix, because its tickets are much cheaper than most other grands prix. Tickets to Silverstone, for example, I think are in the £150-300 range (someone correct me if I'm wrong on this point).

£99 two years ago at Silverstone for all three days, with open grandstands on the Friday. Woodcote Grandstands would be mega bucks, and I didn't even look that far down the price list!!!

£99 is roughly $195 at the moment, but was probably closer to $175 then.

Quote from tristancliffe :

£99 two years ago at Silverstone for all three days, with open grandstands on the Friday. Woodcote Grandstands would be mega bucks, and I didn't even look that far down the price list!!!

£99 is roughly $195 at the moment, but was probably closer to $175 then.

A three day grandstand at Silverstone for F1 starts at 209 pounds and if you want to go just to the race on Sunday you will need to find 160 pounds to have any type of reserved seating, which is what you would get at Bristol.

You can get roving grandstand 'seats' but you will have nowhere to sit and your not allowed in the stands and must find a place on the grass. A three day ticket for this is 100pounds.

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/php/rm_britishGP.html

Grandstands are pretty restrictive anyway, so I wouldn't pay for them. It was nice to have somewhere clean (ish) to sit down for lunch on the Friday though, and we watched some girly Porsches braking for Stowe from one whilst we ate.

Quote from Shotglass :

cry mich ein river

Bwaha. Zero Punctuation?