2007 NHRA NATIONAL EVENT SCHEDULE
Listen to Trackside Interviews with Champions, Drivers and Crew Chiefs
Robert Hight
Hillary Will
Bob Vandergriff
Dave Connolly
Ed Iskenderian
Cory McClenathan
Robert Hight
Jim Yates
Tony Bartone
Hillary Will
Whit Bazemore
Byron Hines
| The Weekend Ahead Feb 14 |
|
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series - Chevy Silverado HD250
(Daytona Beach), Feb. 16 NASCAR Busch Series - Orbitz 300 (Daytona Beach), Feb. 17 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series - Daytona 500, Feb. 18 |
| Storyline |
| Chevy Success at Daytona Hinges On Restrictor Plate Mastery |
| While Chevy teams in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series put hundreds
of man-hours into preparing for any one of the 36 races on the
annual schedule, the Daytona 500 probably gets the most attention
for obvious reasons - but also because of restrictor plates that
slash almost 50 percent horsepower. Without restrictor plates, race cars have the potential of reaching speeds of 230 miles an hour or more at the "superspeedway" tracks of Daytona and Talladega. In 2004, Rusty Wallace reached speeds close to 230 mph testing an unrestricted car at Talladega and described the experience as "out of control." At those speeds, drivers can exceed the limits of the tires and other parts. To optimize the performance of engines with restrictor plates, all teams keep their specific tuning methods a closely guarded secret. Factors such as air temperature, air density and vapor pressure all come into play when tuning an engine for restrictor-plate racing. |
