Ninh explains, the Rules of NASCAR The object of the race is to be the first
to cross the finish line after completing a number of laps around a track.
NASCAR racing, also known as stock car racing, is the most popular form of auto racing in
the United States. And is contested in a number of races throughout the calendar year.
Drivers will drive a specially modified version of a normal passenger car, which are designed
to go around a track in as fast a time as possible.
To determine their starting position in the race, each driver will complete laps of the
track on their own. The fastest driver will start on the grid in the 1st position, the
2nd fastest in the 2nd position etc. until all the drivers are assigned a position to
start the race. This is known as qualifying. Once qualifying has determined the starting
order, the actual race is usually held on a separate day. Drivers will warm up their
cars by following the pace car in the position that they will start. Once the green flag
is waved, the race begins. NASCAR racing is typically contested in 400,
500 or 600 laps and is segmented into 3 stages. Stage 1 is roughly 25% of the overall number
of laps in a race. The driver who crosses the line first at the
end of Stage 1 is awarded 10 regular season points and a playoff point. The second driver
is awarded 9 regular season points all the way down to 1 point for 10th place.
The race carries on into Stage 2 – which is exactly the same as stage one.
10 points for winning the stage plus one playoff point, 9 points to 2nd place etc.
Stage 3 is compacted ‘traditional race’ and is roughly 50% of the total laps.
Winning this final stage wins you the overall race, which is worth 40 regular season points,
with 2nd place getting 35 points 3rd place getting 34 points etc.
Winning the race automatically guarantees you a place in the playoffs and also adds
5 playoff points to your total score So what is the playoffs?
The Playoffs, previously known as ‘the chase’, is used to determine who the overall champion
is.
After the first 26 races, all the regular season points are added up and the top 10
get additional playoff points added to their playoff score.
It’s these playoff points that are added up and all the race winners plus the next
four highest scoring drivers qualify for the playoffs.
This is an elimination style format, where 16 cars contest the next three races for points.
The top 12 (including race winners) are through to the next round.
The bottom 4 are eliminated. 12 becomes 8, 8 becomes 4.
Only 4 cars are left at the final race of the season at Homestead, Miami.
The driver who finishes the highest in the final race of the season is declared NASCAR
Champion. It used to be a lot simpler. Prior to 2004
NASCAR used to follow the Formula 1 style of points. The driver with the most points
after the last race of the season was declared the champion. So much easier to explain.
If you managed to understand the somewhat confusing format, that’s great, but there
are a few other things you’ll need to know about before going to or watching a race.
For example. Track
Each NASCAR track may look exactly the same, but all of them vary in terms of distance,
terrain, track angle and difficulty. This means that teams and drivers have to
prepare, and set up their cars differently for every single race.
Restrictor Plate Some tracks are so fast that to race on them
with full power cars is actually quite dangerous. To lower the power of the cars, a restrictor
plate is placed between the carburettor and the engine, to reduce the amount of power
the cars can produce. This is so that drivers can drive safer (albeit slower) than normal.
These are known as restrictor plate or plate races.
Drafting Unlike Formula 1 where the cars are quite
a distance from each other, in NASCAR – cars follow each other extremely closely. But why?
Due to aerodynamics and the forces of drag – cars will stay close together to share
the drag, and two cars together can drive faster than one car alone. This results in
chains of cars staying together. They are forming a temporary truce to help each other
to drive faster. But eventually, all of them are going to try and break away to try and
cross the finish line first. Loose and Tight
You’ll sometimes hear drivers use the terms loose and tight.
This is where drag and aerodynamics adversely affects the car.
Loose refers to when the back of car wants to turn into the outer wall causing the car
to oversteer into the inside of the track. Tight is where the front of the car wants
to turn into the outer wall causing the car to understeer into the outside wall of the
track. Pit Stop
Cars are allowed to go back to their own team’s garage (or pit) to change their tyres or refuel.
This is known as a pit stop and a crew of 6 people are so fast at changing 4 tyres and
adding fuel that this can be done in about 12 seconds.
However, this adds time to your race and could cost you valuable positions in the final standings.
Flags During a race, marshalls will use flags to
indicate things to the drivers. I’m not going to cover single every flag,
but the most common are:
A Green Flag – This flag is used to start or restart a race.
A Green & White Checkered Flag is used to signal the end of Stage 1 or Stage 2.
A Yellow Flag – Also known as a caution flag, is where all drivers must reduce in
speed and cannot overtake. The black and white checkered Flag – is
the famous flag that denotes the end of a race.
I could talk more about engines, tyres, the overtime line, side drafting etc. but the
points I’ve talked about are the most salient ones for a beginner to understand.
Check out my Daytona 500 video on my other channel to see what it’s like to experience
a NASCAR race. If you have found this video at all helpful,
please be sure to like share and subscribe.
It takes me ages to make one of these things and good karma is very much appreciated.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter also, but in the meantime – enjoy NASCAR racing.
Ninh Ly - www.ninh.co.uk - @NinhLyUK