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NASCAR conducted its first deliberate crash test of its upcoming next-gen car at Talladega Superspeedway on June 30th and has submitted its initial data to an independent panel of safety experts for further review.
This panel consists of Dr . James Raddin, who was involved in the investigation into the death of Dale Earnhardt after the 2001 Daytona 500; Dr. Jeff Crandall, who serves as the NFL technical advisor; Dr. Barry Myers, professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University; and Dr. Joel Stitzel, Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Wake Forest Baptist Health.
The spec car was driven by a robot and equipped with a crash dummy – an opportunity to study the impact of the dummy.
NASCAR says it will not comment on the crash test process until the formal results are complete.
Internally, several teams had inquired about the results of the test over the past week, but NASCAR did not give the teams any essential information is available – which sparked speculation and rumors that escalated on Thursday.
The car is under some degree of scrutiny because, even after the one-year delay due to the COVID-19 shutdown, it is behind schedule and the car does not degrade the energy in the way it needs to be as a finished product.
The car effectively has a pan with bolted front and rear components, and these crumple zones have been described as potentially stiff.
William Byron accidentally crashed a next-gen prototype at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California on March 4th last year.
« We were probably six or seven laps in a 25-lap tire run, » Byron said afterwards. « I was a bit free for a few corners, but nothing big. This time I just let go and thought I could save it, but couldn’t.
» It just came all around. I had some similar moments on race Sunday and was able to drive out of them. That surprised me the most. But testing is part of learning where the line is. « With what the car can do. »
His crew boss at the time, Chad Knaus, who is now Vice President of Competition at Hendrick Motorsport, described the same dynamic last year.
« The components are smaller and more maneuverable, and it’s much more compact in the car’s packaging, » said Knaus.
The G-forces from Byron’s spin were on par with the tire failure effects that Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones have suffered during Brickyard 400 2020, despite Byron traveling at a fraction of the impact speed of those two incidents.
Another complication with the development schedule is that team owners will be reluctant to continue buying parts for the current next-gen regulations as components could be banned and replaced after the security clearance is complete.
A car built on the virtues of cost containment cannot inherently require multiple purchases for a single component before the cars begin group testing later this season.
The car’s chassis is made by Technique Inc. owned by former Indy racing car driver Ronnie Johncox, with NASCAR making the decision to keep a traditional tubular steel frame instead of a carbon fiber equivalent.
In the name of safety, the Next Gen will move drivers 1.6 inches further towards the center of the vehicle and move the door bars further out.
This is an active R&D situation and it is worth noting that this is Part of the process is that the car is subjected to crash damage tests that must be passed before the car is allowed to be tested on a large group of cars.
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