How does the driver use the transmission in the race?
Being a sequential 6-speed transmission, it can quickly shift up and down. Typically, one particular gear is installed to optimize for the engine’s speed to reach maximum RPM at the end of the straightaway and that gear is designated as the race gear. For Oval tracks, the next gear might be set slightly lower and used as a passing gear. For Roadcourses, the gears might be installed to be spaced evenly between the slowest corner speed and the top straightaway speed to allow the driver to keep the engine in its maximum powerband as much as possible while accelerating. Or not. Different teams and drivers have different tactics, and data might suggest a gear change if it shows the engine out of the powerband too much, and this can be targeted so specifically as to optimize exiting a particular corner on a Roadcourse. Each gear, or gearset as they are known, because each gear of the transmission is physically composed of two gears, can be swapped to increase or decrease the RPM by as little
