I thought immediately of RR member, Tim Leeming - The Legend - when I saw this little video on YouTube.
I know there are misspellings and errors, but it harkens back to simpler days.
Thanks Dave! I had some Furys in my day. Furys, Satellites, Road Runners, all those goodies. Would have had a Superbird but for those damned insurance companies. I still have a deep dislike for insurance companies. Please note the car #2 PattyKay posted. My car number was 83 in 1969 and 1970. In 1971 I changed the number to 2 and changed the paint scheme to what you see in the picture. I had finished second in so many races I thought it was time to change the number to 2. lol. Lot of good it did. Still ran second and third all the time. Funny how, looking at that picture, sort of rings of Brad Keselowski and the blue deuce, huh? Please do NOT tell Brad I compared myself to him! He is far out of my league. But thanks for thinking of me Dave. Great to see all those good old Plymouths.
As for that 1960 model, the couple who lived on the corner up the street from me, got a brand new 1960 Fury Convertible, red with a white top and red and white interior. I used to walk up there and sit on the corner and just look at that car. You talk about the certain of the Ten Commandents about coveting!!!! It wasn't my neighbors ass I coveted, it was that red Fury!!!!!
They had a Donkey too? ? ?
How 'bout goats?
Are you telling me that he is not referring to a Donkey???
I seriously considered attending Seminary and studying for the ministry. According to my Funk & Wagnalls, er King James... Legend is right on the money:
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Looks to me like it is ok for we guys to appreciate our single lady neighbors, just not the other guys.
Perhaps we just need to change the subject and engage in a plan of CYA!
Ok Dave lets start this off with a little serious half mile racing--- why does the cars when time trialing always run up high under the flagstand? they may even get high on the back stretch. But during the race they all try to run as low as possible. Which way is the fastest sir?? which way is the safest?? this going to go somewhere after the correct answer is posted
I sure don't know the answer, Johnny, but I laugh remembering that Paul Sawyer wanted to move his Richmond flagstand 50 feet further toward the first turn, arguing that qualifying lap times would be faster. No amount of arguing would convince him that the lap times wouldn't change regardless of the flag stand location.
I look forward to hearing the answer to the question you posed, Johnny.
Think about it now, the fastest is always not the shortest. the path of least resistance is the key. now go and figure out the answer.
JM and PK, The fastest way around a track is found and affected by speed,lateral acceleration and weight transfer. Lateral acceleration is the sideways force you generate in the turn. It basically is the max amount of cornering force a car will produce. Lateral acceleration is related to centrifugal forces or "G" force. The difference is one is measured in G force and the other is measured in actual pounds of force. L. acceleration is dependent on velocity and the turn radius.the formula to find L.acceleration is velocity squared in feet per second divided by the radius of the turn(expressed in feet)
When you determine the lateral acceleration for your particular set up you can then calculate the actual pounds of weight transferring from the inside wheels to the outside wheels and maximum cornering can be calculated for any particular track turns.This will give you the fastest time around that track. If this doesnt work then take the driver outta the car and put Ruby in.......
Gettin' ready to get sideways....
Dave, I dont think Ruby is ready for this.Since the track is green grass I'm not sure how to set up the blue wagon.I only know wet tacky or dry surfaces and they need opposite roll stiffness.IF Ruby's ride is on wet and tacky it will have more understeer. Ruby can have the crew chief, Jeff put in more oversteer to correct this. Since dirt tracks usually need about 25% softer springs to stop sideways movement and get more side bite I think Ruby might need to get ready for some serious body roll.......lol
Lateral acceleration is a measurement of the propensity for an object going in a straight line to be changed into movement in another direction. It can be calculated easily enough, but not fast enough to be actually considered during driving.
The amount of weight distribution from left side to right side at the rear is a function of the height center of the center of gravity at the rear axle times the mass moment arm length that is determined by the height of the lateral control mechanism. The current stock car rear lateral control mechanism is the pan hard bar. This lateral control mechanism only changes vertically about one half of the travel of the outside frame rail at the rear axle, and presents a relatively slight change in the mass moment arm pivot height.
The bigger issue is at the front axle with independent suspension. The unequal length upper and lower control arms and the inclusion of the steering arms make control of the mass moment arm pivot point almost impossible to control. The center of mass at the front stays relatively the same, but the rapidly moving vertical movement of the roll center height plays havoc with monitoring weight transfer. As this roll center height changes its vertical position it largely affects the front tire instantaneous swing arm length and that affects that tires camber gain characteristics and that affects the contact patch pattern. Here is where the actual determination of cornering positions or spots is determined.
The area of the contact patch of the tire is determined by air pressure and vertical load. The total area times weight determines a maximum lateral adhesion figure called a vector. The whole idea of cornering at speed is a constant procedure of vector analysis. You only have a certain amount cornering force to deal with. You can use it either for braking/accelerating or cornering, but those forces, when combined can not exceed the total of the vector length.
Regarding the placement of the race car during qualifying versus racing, I would make the assumption that the driver will run high on the straight aways in an effort to minimize the turn radius resulting in a longer vector that can be used for cornering while keeping the RPMs up. It would make sense to me that he would then run the race close to the bottom making any attempt to pass require travelling a greater distance to do so.
These are just casual comments. I have been enjoying reading the posts lately.
I loved the NASCAR Dodges.
Walter, You took the long way around from your elbow to your thumb, but the last paragraph was essentially the correct answer with or by adding the qualifying perspective of having the car loose to get the most out of the kinetic energy when transferring the mass (car) from a straight line to a 180 degree curve, or scrubbing to much speed off by being bound down on the bump stop when cornering, as in the shortest way around the circuit.
This qualifying video shows the use of extreme loose setup to obtain the best time
Here is a heat race that shows how the long way around is the fastest---but they wont use this setup in the feature--to harsh on tires
I'm sorry that I took the long way around. I was actually trying to make sense of what mr. McPeek was saying and could not understand his approach so offered my own thoughts.
In the middle of that post, I remembered the question that Johnny had asked.
I am still not very good at navigating this site, but will try to get better.
BTW, if I had known it was regarding dirt racing, I might not have been so quick to answer. I am not very knowledgeable about dirt racing.
AINT IT FUN ??? dirt track racing tells a story every turn
