86 CUP RACE TECHNOLOGY VOLUME 3 2012
PROFILE : RED HORSE RACING TOYOTA TUNDRA
A
special report
IN THE DRAFT Super speedway engineering investigated
DRIVER ENGINEERING Finding the elusive winning edge
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS NASCAR brakes and chassis uncovered
David vs the Goliaths U
Red Horse Racing repeatedly holds its own against teams that are part of larger Sprint Cup organisations. Jeff Huneycutt finds out how
nderneath the engine bay the flat radiator pan runs in close proximity to the track. This pan has to be 10 in long by 22 in wide but the regulations do not determine its exact relationship to track surface below, in terms of the
height it is set relative to the frame and any rake. Those factors are significant in that they permit the pan to be used to aerodynamic gain. However, again this is a very small area of improvement – albeit one that is worth pursuing when the field is so closely matched. The COT has to be based on a steel ladder frame that has its origins in Detroit production cars of the 1950s and ’60s. The frame
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is surmounted by a complex tubular steel structure incorporating the central roll cage, and in addition steel paneling is mandated through the cab and trunk areas including a floor pan the length of the cab area.
While the design of the frame in the cab area is essentially standardized by the regulations there is still scope in chassis design in the way the front suspension and the engine are mounted to the so-called front clip, the tubular structure set ahead of it. The method of engine mounting affects overall chassis torsional rigidity and suspension installation stiffness.
Red Horse Racing operates two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams out of its shops in Mooresville, North Carolina
The rules dictate that there is a mount on each side of the engine from the front of the block to the chassis, and that there is also a pair of ‘ear’ mounts on the bellhousing, which is rigidly bolted to the engine. Additional engine and transmission mounts are free and in fact the Toyota engine uses a total of five mounts on either side of the block to tie it into the front of the chassis. This makes it more highly stressed than is traditional in NASCAR racing.
At the same time, unlike some rivals MWR doesn’t use tubular
bracing across the top of the engine. Hughes notes that front roll stiffness is controlled by a substantial anti-roll (‘sway’) bar linking the two suspension units, which runs through a transverse tube located ahead of the engine. Part of the chassis frame, that tube is subject to a lot of twist by the bar, and to some extent the engine installation helps counter this. However, Hughes says that triangulating the front of the clip is the key to countering the twist to which the tube is subject. He adds that bracing over the engine wouldn’t help much in this respect since the triangulation required is in the vertical rather than the horizontal plane.
Hughes explains that the manner in which the Toyota engine is mounted helps most in terms of suspension installation stiffness, since the suspension arm mounts flank the engine. “The anti-roll bar is mounted forward of the engine so the engine mounting system helps more in terms of camber control and toe compliance,” he says. Because of the rules there isn’t much that can be done to enhance torsional rigidity by the manner in which the front clip is connected to the main frame, according to Hughes. He also remarks that the rules likewise limit scope to improve chassis stiffness by the design of the rest of the frame. The rules dictate where most tubes must run, from
what they are made, their key dimensions and so on. However, he notes that the steel body does add to overall torsional rigidity, which he reports as being in the region of 15,000 ft lb per degree. The Cup car runs on 15 in diameter, 9.5 in wide wheels shod with
radial slick tires as supplied by Goodyear to all competitors. Goodyear provides staggered tires for oval racing. The one-piece steel wheel is attached by five steel lugs projecting from a steel hub. The same studs carry the brake rotor hat and sometimes spacers are put between hub and hat to adjust for tread width or wheel offset, to keep the track within required tolerances. The front hub runs on taper roller bearings on a stub axle formed
by a spindle. The inner bearing has a larger diameter than the outer bearing. The hub is retained on the stub axle by a single nut with a cotter for security. A bullet-shaped aluminum dust cover goes over the nut to protect the grease in the bearings from the ingress of dirt and to help a tire changer align the wheel with the lugs during the heat of a pit stop. The cover is bolted to the hub so that it rotates with it. The fabricated steel spindle takes the form of a stub axle projecting from the back of a vertical C-shaped member. Hughes reports that MWR uses a spindle formed as separate upper and lower halves, which enables easy alteration of its height as one of a number of front suspension geometric options.
What lies beneath the skin of a contemporary NASCAR machine? Elements normally hidden by dazzling sponsor logos – such as the frame, suspension, brakes, transmission components, engine, fuel tank, the radiators and so on – are revealed in the accompanying photographs, which were taken in the heart of the raceshop where it is painstakingly prepared. The Cup car in question is a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota and our guide to it is Nick Hughes, the Cornelius, North Carolina based team’s technical director. By regulation the NASCAR Cup Car of Tomorrow (COT), which has a 53.5 in roof height, is built on a 110 in wheelbase and a track of 61.5 in, wheel center to wheel center (for convenience it is normally measured to the outside of the rims, in which case the figure is 71 in). The general layout of major components is dictated by the regulations.
CRTv3 contents • ProFiLe: reD Horse
rAcing trucK Jeff Huneycutt investigates what it takes to make a competitive Camping World truck
• insigHt: suPer
sPeeDwAY engineering H.A Mergen looks at the unique challenges of beating the pack on the Super speedways
• Focus: susPension NASCAR’s may be primitive but it doesn’t prevent engineers using every trick and technology to make them turn
• insigHt: FueL injection The faithful four-barrel has bitten the dust. Wayne Ward investigates the challenges fuel injection presents teams
• sPeciAL investigAtion:
engineering tHe Driver The car is perfect, the track is perfect, there is only one place left to find those elusive tenths. Ronn Langford looks at engineering the driver
• Focus: BrAKes NASCAR’s are notoriously under braked, what can brake manufacturers do to improve stopping power and remain inside the regulations?
• tecHnoLogY review The latest technological developments in the world of Stockcar racing
• Ps: Hi-tecH Low
tecHnoLogY So you thought NASCAR was simple?
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race engine TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL REPORT
CUP RACE TECHNOLOGY 2012
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