To begin with, this piece is not written to comment on NASCAR drivers owning Dirt Late Model cars or on dirt racers becoming corporate spokesman rather than wheel men. Rather, it is about the infusion of engineering into the sport, especially in regard to the growing importance of aerodynamics in this form of racing.
As I watched Sunday’s FedEx 400 from the Dover International Speedway I came to several realizations, or rather had several previous realizations reaffirmed. The NASCAR sanctioned Sprint Cup race demonstrated just what a premium has been placed on passing the lead car in that form of racing as eventual winner Jimmie Johnson beat the field over the final stretch run despite the fact that his tires were over 50 laps older than many of the drivers who were chasing him.
As with many other NASCAR races, clean air proved to be the deciding factor above all else. Far older tires on a car that had not necessarily been dominant throughout the day did not seem to matter as long as the No. 48 could keep the air flowing over his nose while at the same time disrupting the air flowing over every other car on the track. As it has come to be known, the dreaded aero-tight condition prevented fresher tires from being the factor that might have been expected.
This has become all too common in NASCAR over the past decade or so. As a result, a sport that this writer once scheduled everything else around has now become a sport that I only watch when I don’t have anything else planned.
So what does all of this have to do with Dirt Late Model racing?
Over the past several years there has been an ever increasing movement toward aerodynamic advancement on Dirt Late Models. Noses of the cars are being extended further and further out while at the same time those noses are being widened and “flappers” are being raised so that air can be channeled to the places on the car where it will provide the most down force. The sides of the cars are being molded so once again the air can be sent to the areas of the body that will provide the best performance.
Dirt Late Models are becoming more engineered from nose to tail.
Unlike NASCAR, where the sanctioning body has almost total control of the body shape on the cars, dirt racing has far fewer controls. Teams have much more leeway than their asphalt brethren and, of course, will take every advantage allowed…and perhaps some that aren’t allowed but might not get noticed.
Another issue to be dealt with in dirt racing that is not the case with NASCAR is that there are multiple sanctioning bodies. Two national touring series operate around the country while many regional series also conduct races in various parts of the nation. While the rules of each are somewhat uniform, there are no doubt instances in which one varies from another enough that an aerodynamic “trick” used in one series may not be allowed in another.
Earlier this year, I watched as a car that regularly races on one national touring series was inspected by officials from the other national touring series. Crew members from the team in question argued with the officials over the fact that their car did not fit the body templates used by that series. The tour insisted that it was trying to get control over aerodynamics while the team argued that the “cars were going to look like they did back in 90’s.”
I’m not so sure that a step back in terms of aerodynamics would be a bad thing. Unfortunately, things rarely ever regress. More essentially, it is important for sanctioning bodies to control the pace of advancement. That, of course, would require the sanctioning bodies to come up with a package that all could agree on, which could be difficult.
The noses of Dirt Late Models are often engineered to be right on the track surface.
And such regulation would have to be well thought out. A couple of years ago when LOLMDS announced that they were going to require teams to reduce the size of rear spoilers, one well known crew chief told me that “they’re working on the wrong damn end of the cars if they want to make the racing better.” Whether it be NASCAR of Dirt Late Models, I have come to believe that getting the noses of race cars off the track surface is the most important ingredient in improving the quality of racing, and it appears as if at least one crew chief agrees.
On Friday night, I watched Jonathan Davenport charge from his ninth starting spot to win the 50-lap Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race at the Tazewell Speedway. Such movement will most likely never be seen over a similar number of laps in a NASCAR race that does not involve restrictor plates because the cars have been so intensively engineered to be fast when they are alone on the track that they handle poorly with other machines on the speedway.
Of course, dirt racing has the variable of differing track preparation that NASCAR can not have. A dirt track may allow for 14-second laps on the first night of a two-day show and then only allow 16-second laps on the following evening.
Earlier this year, this website ran a piece in which two prominent Dirt Late Model racers expressed their concerns regarding the overemphasis on engineering in modern day dirt racing. Bear in mind that engineering is not a bad thing, and neither is progress. But there can be too much of a good thing.
Let’s hope Dirt Late Model does not follow the lead of NASCAR to the point that sponsor banners will be needed to cover empty seats.
The grandstands in Tazewell were filled for the recent LOLMDS race.
