APRON - The usually flat portion of a race track that separates the track from the infield.
BANKING - The angle of a race track, particularly at a curve or corner, from the apron to the height of a track's slope at its outside edge.
BASAL SKULL FRACTURE- The breaking of the neck at the base of the skull where the head rests upon the neck above the shoulders. Very quick death.
BINDERS - Brakes.
BITE - (1.) "Round of bite" is the act of turning or adjusting of a car's jacking screws found at each wheel. "Weight jacking" distributes and shifts the car's weight at each wheel. (2.) Adhesion of a tire to the track surface.
BLOWN (as in Motor) - Self explanatory-major engine failure. Sometimes referred to also as "puking" the motor.
CASTER and CAMBER - Terms related to front-end wheel alignment. Depending on the banking degrees of a track, castor and camber are the forward to rear and side to side alignment of the tires, which determine how much tire is meeting the track. This is critical to handling and tire wear.
CATCHCAN - The small pitcher-like "can" a pitman holds behind the car when the fuel man is refueling the car. The purpose is to catch more of the fuel that over flows than hits the ground. A safety factor.
COMPOUND - The composition of rubber in the tires. Different tracks require different tire compounds. "Left-side" tires are considerably softer than "right-side" tires and it's against the rules to run left sides on the right.
CREW CHIEF - Team leader. Chief mechanic and right hand man to the driver. Usually oversees car's setup and teams operation.
"DIRTYING" - referring to the air around the car or the car itself. To "dirty" the air is to mess up the aerodynamics to create a slower speed. Extra spoilers above the windshield, higher angles on rear spoilers all help to "dirty" the car up so it won't cut thru the air so fast. Preferable to restrictor plates and reduced horsepower.
DOWNFORCE - Basically, the pressure of the air on a car as it races. Downforce increases with speed.
DRAFTING - Practice of two, or more, cars, while racing, to run nose to tail, almost touching. The lead car, by displacing air in front of it, creates a vacuum between its rear end and the following car's nose. The second car is actually pulled by the first. i.e. On a major highway behind a semi-truck is a "drafting" position because the size and length of the truck creates a turbulent draft literally PULLING the car along with the trailer. Getting out of the draft is readily felt when not quite in the "draft" (which is too close to the back of the trailer anyhow") and the vehicle is juggled around in the air turbulence.
DRIVER - Self-explanatory but not always easily recognized. The driver is the guy behind the wheel during the race, not just the guy in the firesuit, since everyone in the pits usually wears firesuits.
EQUALIZE - Cars in superspeedway races are required to run tires with both inner tubes and inner liners, which are actually small tires inside the standard tires. When the inner liner loses air pressure and that pressure becomes the same as that within the outer tire, the tire is said to have equalized and a vibration is created.
"FACTORY" - A term designating the "Big Three" auto manufacturers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The "factory days" refer to periods in the 1950s and '60s when the manufacturers more directly provided sponsorship money and technical support to some race teams.
FIRESUIT - The nylon composition suit most crewmembers, and all drivers wear in racing. Usually drivers are the ones with all the patches of their sponsors on them.
FLAGS - A signal used to tell the drivers what is happening on the track, what they should do and signify the beginning, midpoint, near finish and finish of the race. Each color means something different:
- The start of the race, go!
- Caution, danger on the track, accidents. Continue to circle the track behind the pace car, no improvement of position on the yellow, pit when pitroad opens, only lead lap drivers pit first, lapped drivers pit second.
- Debris on the track, usually used in conjunction with the yellow flag to explain the caution.
- Slower (lapped) traffic move over for the race leader,unless a driver can outrun the leader and stay on the lead lap! Lapped drivers are supposed to move over out of courtesy and safety.
- Extreme caution, stop as directed on the track, shut off the engines. This is usually reserved for very bad accidents, or close to the end of the race to stop the lap count in order to have a sufficient dash to the finish.
- Get off the track immediately due to penalty, or safety hazard concern. Usually pointed at someone in particular on the track,(not a good thing to have happen).
- Second to the last lap of the race.
- Finish of the race, winner!
NOTE: The motion of crossed flags by the flagman indicates the midway point of the race.
The motion of two flags held tight (not waving in the air) parallel to each other horizontally and switched positions by the flagman back and forth indicates the lap before the white flag.
FLAGMAN - The person who waves the main flags above the start/finish line.
GARAGE - Area of race track where cars are housed during an event; work area for car preparation while at a speedway.
FUEL CELL - Race car gas tank. Consists of a metal "box" that contains a flexible tear-resistant bladder and foam baffling. From aerospace technology, it's designed to eliminate or minimize fuel spillage - and the possibility of fire -- in a crash. NOT a glorified name for a fuel tank, as was recently noted in the racing book for dummies!
GLOVES - Racers wear fire-retardant gloves that also help them grip the wheel, preventing steering slips and protecting them from fire in an accident.
GROOVE - The best route around a speedway; the most efficient or quickest way around the speedway for a particular driver. The "high groove" takes a car closer to the outside wall for most of a lap. The "low groove" takes a car closer to the apron then the outside wall. Road racers use the term "line".
HANS or HUTCHINS device- A peice of equipment that straps over the drivers shoulder and securely attaches the helmet to anchors to reduce the risk of basal skull fractures in direct hits on the wall. NOT proven 100% effective yet, but helpful for driver safety.
HEADSOCK - Like a ski mask but nylon composition, fits snugly around a drivers face, head and neck to meet up with the underwear of his suit. Some drivers prefer a more open face and use a modified headsock to accommodate the open face.
HEADSTRAP - A short strap attached to the rollcage behind the driver usually to the right side, to keep the drivers head from bobbling all over during a crash and reduce neck and back strain during the race. A very good safety feature.
HELMET - The hard poly composition head gear worn to protect the driver from severe impacts.
HOOKED UP - When is a car is properly set up and the driver isn't struggling to manage it around the track.
LOOSE - A handling condition describing the tendency of a car's rear wheels to break away from the pavement, causing it's rear end to want to "come around" and cause the car to spin out. Also called "oversteer".
MAGNAFLUX - Short for "magnetic particle inspection". A procedure for checking all steel parts -including suspension pieces, connecting rods, cylinder heads, etc. - for cracks and other defects utilizing a solution of metal particles and fluorescent dye and a black light. Surface cracks will appear as red lines.
PACECAR - The vehicle that leads the field of cars at the beginning of the race slowly around the track for a couple of laps, and during cautions, leads the field until the flagman signals the race is about to begin again.
PITS - An inside area of a race track, parallel to the track, where a car stops for servicing.
PIT CREW - The crew immediately associated with the car at the track. This may not be the same crew that works on the car in the shop at home.
PUSHING - Handling aspect of a car when its front end wants to "push" or "plow" toward the outside wall in a corner. Also called "understeer".
ROOKIE - A first year driver who is full time competition. Rookies may not have started more than 5 races the previous season or will not be considered Rookie for the season.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - The top ranking rookie among the new drivers.
ROUND(S) - The term used for the turns of the screws that adjust the weight of the car and affect the handling. SCUFF - A tire that has been used at least once and is saved for future racing. A lap or two is enough to "scuff" it in.
SHORT TRACK - A speedway under a mile in distance.
"SOFT" WALLS TECHNOLOGY- A tehcnology of material designed to absorb the impact of a car that crashes into the wall. So far no material has proven satisfactory for NASCAR racing.
SPOILER - A metal strip that helps control airflow, downforce and drag. The front spoiler or "air dam" is underneath the car's front end near the axle; the rear spoiler is attached to the trunk lid. "Adding more spoiler" refers to increasing the rear spoiler's angle in relation to the rear window and generally helps cornering ability. "Less spoiler" - decreasing its angle - aids straightaway speed.
SPONSOR - An individual or business establishment that financially supports a race driver, team, race or series of races in return for advertising and marketing benefits.
STAGGER - The difference in size between the tires on the left and right sides of a car. Because of a tire's makeup, slight variations in circumference result per different sizes or styles. Stagger is the variance between right-side and left-side tires. Stagger assists in steering in some divisions of racing. The higher circumference is on the outside to help "turn" the car to the left naturally. Stagger applies to only bias-ply tires and not to radials, and usually ONLY on oval tracks, not drag racing or road courses.
"STICKER" - A new tire with the manufacturer's stick-on label denoting the type of tire, price, etc. on the tire when mounted.
SUPERSPEEDWAY - A speedway one mile or more in distance. Road courses are included. NOTE: Racers refer to three types of oval tracks. Short tracks are under a mile, "intermediate" tracks are at least a mile but under two miles and "superspeedways" are two miles and longer.
TEARAWAY- A peice of plastic that "tears away" from the windshield or off a drivers face shield of his full face helmet, in order to "clean" the glass for his viewing the track and race conditions.
TIGHT- Handling condition where a car has developed a "push" and feels like it doesn't want to turn. A very unco-operative car is usually "tight" causing the driver to fight the car around the track.
TRIOVAL - Said of a race track that has a "hump" or "fifth turn" in addition to the standard four corners. Not to be confused with a triangle-shaped speedway which has only three distinct corners.
UNDERWEAR - Silly as this seems, yes, driver wear special "underwear" under those firesuits. The underwear is much like longjohns top, bottom and socks. Some suits may have this already quilted into the suit itself. It's a proven fact in fire that the underwear saves lives and buys valuable time in a disaster.
WEIGHT SHIFTING - Weight shifting affects the handling of the car. A car works like an X and an H silmutaneously. Turning the screws in one direction or another (putting on or taking off a "round") determines where the weight of the car will shift. The combination of shocks, suspension and alignment all determine the handling of the car. Each wheel is affected by the weight shifting when adjusting the rounds... more weight on the right rear takes weight off the left front and causes a better bite on the rear end. As the car goes around the track, the weight shifts in the H fashion due to direction and speed. All together, it works or it doesn't. If it doesn't, a driver fights the car all day. If it does, the driver is "hooked up".
