Template (auto racing)

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NASCAR officials are using a template to inspect Casey Atwood's 2004 Busch Series car Template NASCAR.jpg
NASCAR officials are using a template to inspect Casey Atwood's 2004 Busch Series car
A series of templates for ARCA stock cars ARCA Templates 2013 Scott 160 at Road America.jpg
A series of templates for ARCA stock cars

A template is a device used by sanctioning body officials to check the body shape and height of racing vehicles. [1] The template is used to check that teams have manufactured the sheet metal used in the vehicle bodies to within tight tolerances (up to thousandths of an inch). [2]

NASCAR use

NASCAR cars are checked before qualifying, before racing, sometimes after a race.

The process of checking car body against templates changed significantly with the Car of Tomorrow (CoT). Before the change, there were different templates applied to each car model to make sure it resembled the factory version of the car. [3] The differing templates frequently caused NASCAR to adjust the templates to ensure that all makes of cars were as aerodynamically equal as possible (called "parity"). [3] There were at least 30 templates used.

All Car of Tomorrow models utilize the same templates, since the CoT is designed to not resemble a specific street car. [4] All makes of cars have the same specifications for their bodies. Instead of a series of templates, a single one-piece template is mounted to the frame by NASCAR officials. [5]

Related Research Articles

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in the world, and is one of the largest spectator sports in America. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and his son, Jim France, has been the CEO since August 2018. The company is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Each year, NASCAR sanctions over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock car racing</span> Form of automobile racing

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generation 6 (NASCAR)</span> Common name for the car that was used in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2013 to 2021

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASCAR Cup Series</span> Top tier auto racing division within NASCAR

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The new millennium saw many changes for motorsport. Not only were there technological developments, but also historic ones like NASCAR's severing of ties with the tobacco industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generation 4 (NASCAR)</span> Vehicles used from 1992–2007 in the Cup Series

The Generation 4 car was the NASCAR vehicle generation used from 1992 to 2007 full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, in the Busch/Nationwide Series until 2010, and in the ARCA Racing Series until 2017. The generation has been described as the generation that removed all "stock" aspects from stock car racing and is as aerodynamically sensitive as a Le Mans Prototype.

References

  1. "NASCAR Glossary T-Z". NASCAR . Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  2. Wilburn, Bill (2 October 2007). "Inside the Halls of Petty: Preparing for COT at 'Dega". NASCAR . Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  3. 1 2 Smith, Marty (29 January 2002). "Fords find rule change creates template troubles". NASCAR . Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  4. Lemasters, Jr., Ron (4 August 2005). "Fusion a step toward 'Car of Tomorrow'". NASCAR . Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  5. Joe, Pate (3 March 2007). "Inspection process for COT slow and tedious". NASCAR . Retrieved 23 October 2008.