What factors influence the outcome of a race? Is it the vehicle’s or driver’s fault?

Fans often ask me about this, and as the All-Star Race approaches – and we judge who our sport’s best drivers are – it seems like a good opportunity to address it. I’m glad to share my thoughts with you, and I’m even more excited to start a discussion with other drivers, journalists, and fans about it and hear what they have to say.

AUTOMOBILE

The cars have developed dramatically during the six years I have competed in the Sprint Cup.

It used to be difficult to drive a trunk car on your own. As a result, the car would spin out a lot or move slightly sideways. The car’s tires would also be severely damaged, and worn tires cause the car to slip around a lot. In general, it cannot be easy to drive a regular car. But once the vehicles were in traffic, they mostly went as they should on their own, so there was not much difference.

In the last decade or two, this has changed considerably. Due to technical and aerodynamic breakthroughs, such as computational fluid dynamics, cars have become much faster. They have also become much easier to drive on their own on the road. As a result, the tires are no longer as easy to empty, and the car does not sway as much as before. It is very easy to get a car back on track when it gets a little lost.

On the other hand, cars are extremely difficult to drive in cramped areas. They do not seem to recover quickly, and they have given up a lot of power. They are constantly in motion, and they are completely unpredictable. A car aerobic is significantly larger than it used to be, especially when you follow another vehicle closely. See yourself behind a tractor-trailer instead of another car in traffic on the highway. The size of the airwave has increased to that extent. If you got close behind that tractor-trailer or drove up behind it on the road, you would notice how much your vehicle was moving around. You would feel like you had no control.

You can get an idea of ​​how it feels by multiplying that feeling by three because you are driving 180 or 200 mph on the racetrack instead of 60.

As a result, the definition of a race car driver has changed significantly. Most drivers will tell you that it has never been easier to drive a regular car solo than it is right now in 2015. Then they would say to you that it has never been harder to drive in traffic in a standard car than it was currently in 2015.

That is, a driver who stands in front of the group and shoots away has a superb vehicle. It is not always easy to lead yourself, nor does it rule out the potential that the best driver is one who has a significant advantage.

THE PASSENGER

Except for changing events such as roadblocks or fuel consumption competitions, a top-five vehicle must win a Sprint Cup race. This is something you already know before the competition weekend starts, and it may be the first car, and the car in fifth place may be the culprit. A vehicle with a top-five speed, on the other hand, will win for the simple reason that a driver’s inability to overcome not having a top-five car is too strong. You will not win a non-variable Sprint Cup race unless you have a top-five course.

We measured a strong driver’s ability to dominate races and lead laps. The roots of loop data, which NASCAR collects – similar to a quarterback rating – to find out who the best drivers are, are here. But while you are in the lead or qualify in 2015, the cars make the most of the effort, making loop data less meaningful. The best driver is usually not the fastest in a straight line, as I mentioned earlier.