5-600 mile races? Battery change? Instead of refuel? Shorter sprint series? Segments?
What about lack of engine noise?
5-600 mile races? Battery change? Instead of refuel? Shorter sprint series? Segments?
What about lack of engine noise?
Well EV powertrains certainly wouldn't be the first technology NASCAR would simply choose to forgo 
I was pondering something somewhat similar today. Not 100% similar, but definitely a tangent.
So the new Dodge has an exhaust, right? Its not expected to do anything about performance, right? Its just for noise?
So... its the definition of rice?
Lack of engine noises means advertiser messages could be broadcast to the audience, or live commentary could be given over the PA or there could be infield concerts, potentially even during the race. It all actually creates opportunity.
NASCAR is first and foremost a spectacle. For a long time it has been rooted in tradition above all else and hence rearward looking.
So rather than pondering what EV does not do, the better question is "What could EV racing bring to the table that creates spectacle?"
They cant go as long on the track, so what kind of spectacle can be created in the pits to compensate?
The crashes and emergency response will take on a new form as they have to deal with electrical fires and cars that have different crash dynamics.
EV can certainly accelerate faster than IC, so what king of on-track dueling can be contrived to take advantage of this?
Is there a path to innovation paying off for a team? Innovation is something that died a long time ago in NASCAR along with my desire to watch a homogenized race series where everyone is driving the same car.
Along with innovation returning as a team tool, would sponsorship from technology come to the series? I like TIDE as much as the next laundry doing dude, but maybe something from the likes of Elon and his emerging industry be more forward looking? Dude did put a car in space.
Do not have an actual answer, just some thoughts.
Should I live another 50 years I let you know how the dominate EVs are doing.
I don't see this as remotely becoming a thing for at least 20 years.
Of course my record as Nostra-Thomas isn't good, so it could happen.
200 mph billboard series will take some notes from professional wrestling and keep the spectacular racing going in some form regardless of what powers them. They could wait for the ev tipping point in the next 20 years and go back to "whatever is on the showroom floor" (plus safety equipment)h) has to race and use that as an excuse.
In reply to johndej :
You misspelled the controlling influence. It's spelled Wraslin' ...
It's been the pro wraslin' of racing for many many years.
with no "stock" influence, the name should be changed to N. A. L. : National Association of Legislation.
My wife stopped watching when she got tired of me asking "who's scheduled to win, this week?"
What makes you think we'll be allowed to drive cars at all in the future? I-racing will probably be the only form of Motorsports left, and therefore very popular.
Tom1200 said:Should I live another 50 years I let you know how the dominate EVs are doing.
I don't see this as remotely becoming a thing for at least 20 years.
Of course my record as Nostra-Thomas isn't good, so it could happen.
Formula 1 has EV racing. Of a sort, I haven't been curious enough to investigate it, but it's still early days.
That and look at how fast Tesla's are in auto crossing. there is a UTube guy taking on all off the High dollar sports cars in drag racing and giving himself big handicaps and still beating them
racerfink said:What makes you think we'll be allowed to drive cars at all in the future? I-racing will probably be the only form of Motorsports left, and therefore very popular.
Watching the drivers on the freeway I can't wait until self driving is reserved for country roads.
A jerk with a loud Rusty Suburban tried to pass me and threw himself at an opening that was less than the length of that thing by a good 5 feet. If I hadn't driven on the shoulder to give him clearance there would have been a nasty multi car pileup at 70 mph. ( he was going 85+) and gave me the finger for saving his butt.
10 over is typical, But 25-30 over is becoming the new norm. Yet there are still drivers going at or near the 40 mph minimum.
frenchyd said:5-600 mile races? Battery change? Instead of refuel? Shorter sprint series? Segments?
I haven't watched a race in 15 years... but I thought they'd already had split up the races into segments, and those segments included mandatory pitstops and race restarts? Super easy to include battery swaps into the same format?
Don't worry about the noise, all will be forgiven when NASCARfans find out about the France family's partnership with DoD and DoE to build a fleet of semi-rig MicroReactors.
NASCAR only moved to 18" wheels and fuel injection relatively recently. You think they're going to jump on electric drivetrains anytime soon?
The new car is designed with hybrid in mind. I suppose a guy could have a Daytona 50 with full electrics...
NickD said:NASCAR only moved to 18" wheels and fuel injection relatively recently. You think they're going to jump on electric drivetrains anytime soon?
They only moved away from leaded fuel in 2008.
(shockingly, if the google is right, leaded gas wasn't completely phased out in pumps until 1996!?)
NickD said:NASCAR only moved to 18" wheels and fuel injection relatively recently. You think they're going to jump on electric drivetrains anytime soon?
Cup series has only moved to 18" and fuel injection (along with remote reservoir shocks), Xfinity and Trucks still run carbs, 15", and a toolboxes full of pistons and shims.
It took them 25 years to go fuel injected (figure 1987 for EFI dominance in new car sales, 2012 for NASCAR adoption). Taking 2035 (CA "mandate") as the the starting point, they can go to 2060. :) NASCAR is about selling spectacle and the noise factor alone means that EV race cars are much less "spectacular" than ICE ones. Then there's the NASCAR demographics, which doesn't overlap with EV proponents very much...
As for the other side of the ocean, Formula E hasn't exactly set the world on fire. It's been around for 11 yeras now, but the cars are slow, the races are short, it's mostly a spec series, and it gets about 1% of the viewership that F1 does.
NickD said:NASCAR only moved to 18" wheels and fuel injection relatively recently. You think they're going to jump on electric drivetrains anytime soon?
Hendricks is running one of their cars at Le Mans next year with a hybrid powertrain.
do the cars even resemble camrys and mustangs anymore? they only recently adopted fuel injection. honestly anything is possible but its only going to become more remote from actual relevance to current production cars. HOWEVER it is like a religion to those die hard fans which has a huge commercial backing with the premise that change is bad so I would expect this stuborness to help it thrive and continue with minimal updates for quite some time...
NickD said:NASCAR only moved to 18" wheels and fuel injection relatively recently. You think they're going to jump on electric drivetrains anytime soon?
And push rods!!! Detroit got rid of flatheads in the 1950's, the whole world is done with pushrods except for Chevy. So until Chevy stops with pushrods does that mean NASCAR still going to use pushrods for another 20 years past that?
Calvin Nelson is making 100 horsepower more on the 6 cylinder 4,2 Atlas engine than they can make on the 5.3 LS. With still modest camshafts. On the same dyno at the same 19 psi of boost. 100 more horsepower!!!
frenchyd said:And push rods!!! Detroit got rid of flatheads in the 1950's, the whole world is done with pushrods except for Chevy. So until Chevy stops with pushrods does that mean NASCAR still going to use pushrods for another 20 years past that?
Pushrods are only obsolete if you care about horsepower per liter of engine displacement, which is a fairly artificial constraint, created mainly by tax authorities and race class rules. From an engineering perspective, pushrod engines offer more power per engine weight as well as packaging smaller which are much more useful real-world constraints. There's a reason why the LS was so successful, and why Ford's newest truck engine (the 7.3L "godzilla" motor) returns to pushrods.
frenchyd said:look at how fast Tesla's are in auto crossing. there is a UTube guy taking on all off the High dollar sports cars in drag racing and giving himself big handicaps and still beating them...
I've watched his videos. It's funny to see how annoyed the ICE crowd gets at being beat fair and square on their own turf with their own rules, because an AWD EV is a perfect tool for a fast 1/4 mile time. Now, if this was a trackday event at a road course, it would level the playing field due to EVs being so heavy.
I admit though that when we get investing in our ways, and something new comes along, many of us instantly conjure up some fictitious situation where the new thing would fail, as a "reason" why our old ways are better. Meanwhile, young people simply embrace it and move forward.
On a bucolic Sunday afternoon, in the future, we listen in on a typical conversation while the family watches an eNASCAR race.
Mrs. Bubba: “Get you own (darn) beer (honey)!”
Bubba: “(Hush) up (Daisy Mae) I can’t hear the race.”
Edited for family considerations.
The best thing that will happen is they will probably have the 200 laps cut up into Sprint races of 50 laps each ,p
I enjoy watching Nascar highlights but who wants to sit for hours waiting for the big crash !
And they will do more stadium races like in LA
I think they should tether all the cars to a central pole with extension cords, like a maypole festival. At some point they will tie themselves into a knot that wont be able to move anymore = Race over.
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