Racing with Bubba: An F1 Dummy's Intro to NASCAR

) or "claim jumping" and seems to be quite controversial, the complaint being that it displaces regular Nationwide drivers who would otherwise be scoring points and prize money, which totals about $5 million per race.

Unlike F1's salaried drivers, what NASCAR drivers make will depend at least partly on their race success, and the top ones make a great deal. Over the past couple of years, a number of IRL drivers, most famously J.P. Montoya, have defected from IRL to the big bucks of NASCAR.

 

The Cars

NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. In its early days, ordinary production cars were raced, hence the word Stock, but that is no longer the case.

In the modern day, only the body shells resemble road vehicles. I can't quibble with that, because road cars like Toyota Camrys cannot really wind up to 200 mph, and would not be remotely safe if they could.

The quasi road-going build does however mean that they are not ideal for racing. Their high centre of gravity makes them unstable compared to any open-wheel format.

And I bet you already knew there is a standard engine.

Reading the engine spec is an eye-opener. A few key points; iron block pushrod V8, carburetor, distributor. Ferrari would laugh, but the mechanics do squeeze almost F1 power levels out of those 5.8 litre lumps.

No ECU means no possibility of traction control, ignition mapping and other enhancements, whereas the the road-going namesakes produced by Ford, Toyota, etc., most certainly incorporate all the electronic gizmos that can be packed in.

It does make me think of F1's engine development freeze and talk of a standard engine, and where racing in general is going with the trend towards racing machines that are in some ways technically behind the cars spectators arrive in.

The tightly specified design of NASCAR cars does make the whole business of running a team relatively cheap, and the sport is very accessible to both spectators and wannabe drivers.

When I showed an early draft of this article to a race fan from North Carolina, where NASCAR took root and most teams are still based, he was at pains to stress that the sport has a high-tech approach to maximising results from the specified parts, and I do accept that.

So if anyone thinks I'm sneering at NASCAR as some kind of hillbilly sport, I ain't.

 

Scoring

In an earlier paragraph, I summarised F1's simple championship scoring system. NASCAR's isn't like that; I will set out my understanding of it, fully expecting to be shot down in flames if I am mistaken at all.

• Every driver who has led a lap gets five points, but he only gets that once, not for every lap he leads.
• If a driver leads for more laps than anyone else, then he gets another five points.
• Finish points are awarded as follows: 185 for first, 170 for second, 165 for third, 160 for fourth, 155 for fifth, 150 for sixth, 146 for seventh, 142 for eighth, 138 for ninth, 134 for 10th, and all the way down to 34 for 43rd.
• It follows that the most points a driver can score in a race is 195, 185 + 5 + 5.
• In the Nationwide series, the driver who has scored most points over the season is champion.

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