>> I've heard that Talladega is being rebuilt in NASCAR 2, and the new
>> track will allow 3-wide racing. Two questions about this:
>> 1) Will the lowest lane still be the faster groove no matter what?
>> Anotherwords, if a car is running by itself on the low line, and a
>> line of cars is drafting in the middle lane, will the solo car win out
>> because of the low groove, like the track is now? Or, will a number
>> of cars hooked up in the higher lanes be able to bypass the lower car,
>> simply because of the physics of the draft, as in real life?
>> 2) Will the tri-oval FINALLY allow side-by-side racing, or will it
>> still be a 'No Passing Zone'?
>> Kyle Langston
>> PowWow - same
>Let me take this one. If you can find a set of drafting cars that don't
>want to drive the fastest line, then you've found something rarer than a
>unicorn. Think about, 1) drafting cars will always be able to run
>faster than a single car, 2) drafting cars will undoubtedly be using the
>fastest groove.
>Yes, the tri-oval is supposed to have at least a 2-wide groove.
I completely understand how the draft works. As far as a drafting
line of cars ALWAYS driving the lowest lane in the turns, this isn't
always true. For example, let's say Driver A is going around the
track using the optimum line (i.e. the lowest line) throught the
turns. Meanwhile, Drivers B-N are flying around the track like a
freight train, doing the same thing. When the 'train' catches up to
Driver A's car, they won't be able to use the bottom lane to pass in
the turns, and will be forced to pass in the next highest lane. No
problem, if the track is designed just like the real life Talladega.
That was the gist of my question.
Naturally if the drafting cars were by themselves with no one to pass,
they would go around the track like that, cutting to the apex in the
turns. It's when drivers behind the lead car have to decide whether
to stay with the lead car, which is passing in the second lane, or to
go with the lone car, which is slower by itself, but is in the faster
lane through the turns.
Kyle Langston
PowWow - same