|
MINDING YOUR
|
| KNOW YOUR NASCAR By Mike Ashley |
Just call it Good Ol' Dominion University.
This venerable institution of higher learning is where erudite aerodynamics engineers meet motor heads from the Nascar circuit. The professors and the pit crews regularly mingle in the full-scale wind tunnel at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton. |
 artwork by Michael Goodman |
Jim Cross, a professor in ODU's
department of aerospace engineering and director of the wind tunnel, says
Nascar teams come to the former NASA facility two or three times a month
to fine-tune the aerodynamics of their cars and, in the process, dispel
a few myths.
"Most of these guys, particularly the winning teams, are no longer shade-tree good ol' boys," Cross says. "A winning team will spend $10 million to $15 million a year, and a lot of that goes into car development and technology. It's become very, very competitive and sophisticated." |
| Most folks are familiar with Nascar, but few know how
much effort goes into getting each of those colorful cars ready to race.
Cross says the university charges $1,400 an hour for an average 10-hour
day in the wind tunnel. If a team wants to measure modifications on several
different cars over two or three days, the total bill for using the facility
can exceed $40,000.
"The wealthy teams will have an engineering and development team headed by a well-educated engineer with a lot of experience," explains Cross. "All the teams know what they're doing, whether it's just the crew chief heading up the testing or an engineer. They come in and try a lot of configurations." The teams -- many of them headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. -- analyze different body shapes on the cars. Although they must work within Nascar-mandated guidelines, the slightest improvement can make the difference on race day. Cross and his associates assist the teams by setting the desired wind conditions and operating the two 35-foot, four-blade propellers. "The nature of the business is very competitive, and the teams that come in here don't want their technology showing up on somebody else's car," Cross says. "So for the most part, we simply operate the wind tunnel and give them the data so they can do the analysis and all the design work." The tunnel is part of a 434-foot-long, 222-foot-wide building that was recently modified to allow engineers to perform tests on even larger vehicles, like tractor-trailers. Cross is excited about the possibility of helping truck manufacturers come up with more fuel-efficient designs. And who knows? Perhaps the university's sociology students can observe a thing or two as Cross comes into contact with another breed of motor-minded folks. That's a big ten-four, Dr. Cross.
|
