How does a NASCAR track physically change during a race?
It’s difficult being a crew chief on the NASCAR circuit. Stock car racing in the 21st century is as much a science as it is a sport. The days of dirt tracks and drivers a generation removed from running bootleg liquor under the cover of night on country roads is gone forever. Today, everything about the sport is high-end, from the 100,000-seat raceways to the wireless communication systems between the drivers and their crews. Even some of the thermal-protection materials used to prevent heat accumulation in a car’s cockpit were originally developed for NASA [source: NASA]. Thermal protection is only one of the many tweaks and modifications NASCAR cars undergo to gain that elusive edge over the other drivers. The slightest modification — suspension changes, the car’s weight, minor adjustments to the front fenders — can radically alter th
