Although stock-appearing, running oval tracks at 200 mph the Cup car generates huge aerodynamic forces. Under the skin the Cup car is purpose-designed for racing albeit around some mandatory components that are strangely archaic. It all adds up to a fascinating engineering challenge. Published annually, Cup Race Technology explains in depth how some of the finest minds in motorsport rise to this fascinating and unique challenge.
Volume 1 contents include:
- Profile: THE HENDRICK CHEVROLET - Under the skin of a winning Car of Tomorrow
- Focus: COT CORNERS - Shock absorbers, tires and brakes
- Focus: COT TRANSMISSION - Gearbox, driveshaft and rear end
- Insight: ENGINEERING THE TOYOTA - Getting to grips with the new shape of NASCAR
- Focus: COT FLUID SYSTEMS - Coolers, fuel and oil systems
- Dossier: COT ENGINES - Inside NASCAR Cup engines
- Grid - NASCAR Techno Topics
- PS: AT THE WHEEL - From the cockpit today and yesterday
Volume 2 contents include:
- Insight: NASCAR ENGINEERING TOOLS - What tools are available to COT engineers for off-track testing and development?
- Anatomy: THE MWR TOYOTA - We tear down the Michael Waltrip Racing NASCAR Cup Car of Tomorrow
- Focus: COT AERODYNAMICS - How NASCAR teams test and improve the aerodynamics of the COT
- Focus: ENGINEERING THE COT V8 - NASCAR teams are translating the rules into new engine designs and development
- Focus: COT TRANSMISSION - Despite the rules there is still plenty of scope for gearbox development
- Insight: DRIVING THE COT - How NASCAR drivers adjust driving styles and car set-ups for the various circuits
- GRID - The advent of fuel injection in NASCAR
- PS: PUTTING ON THE BRAKES - Brake systems aren’t an issue at NASCAR circuits – with one exception
Volume 3 contents include:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - NASCAR is definitely not afraid of change
- Grid: IN THE NEWS - The latest news from Pit road
- Profile: RED HORSE RACING TRUCK - Jeff Huneycutt investigates what it takes to make a competitive Camping World truck
- Insight: SUPERSPEEDWAY ENGINEERING - H.A Mergen looks at the unique challenges of beating the pack on the superspeedway
- Focus: CORNERS - A Sprint Cup car’s suspension may be simple, but this doesn’t prevent engineers using every trick and technology to make them turn
- Insight: FUEL INJECTION - The faithful four-barrel has bitten the dust. Wayne Ward investigates the challenges fuel injection presents teams
- Special Investigation: ENGINEERING THE DRIVER - The car is perfect, the track is perfect, there is only one place left to find those elusive tenths. Ronn Langford looks at engineering the driver
- Focus: BRAKES - Sprint Cup cars are notoriously under braked, what can brake manufacturers do to improve stopping power and remain inside the regulations?
- Review: TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS - Tiff Daniels highlights the latest engineering developments in the world of Stockcar racing
- CUP RACE TECHNOLOGY DIRECTORY - The stockcar racer’s resource
- PS: KEEPING THE SHOW - NASCAR plays a delicate regulatory balancing act
Volume 4 contents include:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - NASCAR is entering a new era of cooperation
- Grid - Technical news from the world of top flight stockcar racing
- Profile: Roush Fenway Racing Nationwide Ford Mustang - Lawrence Butcher looks at the tie-up between Ford and Roush Fenway Racing, charting development of the Mustang for the Nationwide series
- Insight: Data Logging - Lawrence Butcher looks into the methods and tools NASCAR teams use to offset the lack of data acquisition under race conditions
- Focus: Electronics - Wiring systems in NASCAR have changed almost beyond recognition in the past few years. Lawrence Butcher finds out how and why
- Profile: 2013 Ford Fusion - Lawrence Butcher charts the development of the new Gen 6 Ford Fusion Sprint Cup car, which combines parity of performance with brand identity
- Focus: Fuel supply systems - NASCAR fuel systems are more advanced than many might think
- Tech Review - What new components and technologies can NASCAR engineers look forward to in the medium term?
- P.S: Nascar at Le Mans - In 1976 a very unusual racing exchange took place
Volume 5 contents include:
- Intro: The Editor - Technical innovation in NASCAR continues apace
- Grid - The latest technical news from the world of stockcar racing
- Dossier: Chevy SS - Lawrence Butcher charts the development of GM’s latest Cup entrant
- Insight: Aero - Despite tight controls, Cup engineers can still find gains in aero performance, as Lawrence Butcher explains
- Digest: Dirt Super Late Model - An insight into the technology of dirt racing
- Focus: Manufacturing - Lawrence Butcher investigates the resources and equipment teams in NASCAR use to get their cars from drawing board to grid
- Tech Review - Lawrence Butcher looks at the latest component developments in NASCAR, and some from outside the sport with potential stockcar applications
- Insight: Tires - Dr Diandra Leslie Pelecky gets under the skin of the Cup tire to find technology of surprising complexity
- Paddock - NASCAR has made its system of penalties for rule-breakers simpler and more consistent.
- PS - Where does NASCAR go next?
Volume 6 contents include:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - Stockcar racing is ever changing
- Grid - The latest news from the world of stockcar racing
- Dossier: KYLE BUSCH MOTORSPORT TOYOTA TUNDRA - Lawrence Butcher talks to Jerry Baxter about Toyota’s dominant Truck
- Focus: OFF-TRACK TESTING - Test rigs and systems investigated
- Profile: TOM HARRIS BRISCA F1 - The toughest stockcars in the world under the spotlight
- Focus: FLUID SYSTEMS - Fluid transfer and cooling systems dissected
- Insight: DRIVER IN THE LOOP SIMULATION - The latest development in stockcar vehicle simulation explained
- Insight: CFD - A revolutionary new CFD code that removes the need for user generated meshes
- PS: WINDS OF CHANGE - Is a composite stockcar a realistic proposition?
Volume 7 contents include:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - Collaboration emerges and innovation continues in the world of stockcar racing
- Grid - The inside track on some of the most interesting recent developments in the NASCAR realm
- Dossier: BOB EAST WINGLESS SPRINT CAR - What goes into building a wingless Sprint car for the USAC National series? Lawrence Butcher talks to Bob East, of Beast Cars, to find out
- Focus: TRANSMISSIONS - Lawrence Butcher highlights the major developments in NASCAR transmission technology over the past few years
- Insight: NASCAR AERO - NASCAR’s senior aerodynamics/vehicle performance engineer Eric Jacuzzi explains the aero development process behind the NASCAR rules packages for its Cup cars
- Insight: ROAD COURSES - Lawrence Butcher looks at the challenges of persuading Cup, Xfinity and Truck stockcars to perform as well at road races as they do on ovals
- Insight: JOE GIBBS RACING AND DRIVEN RACING OIL - NASCAR’s gear ratio changes in 2015 forced a transmission oil rethink. Stewart Mitchell recounts its development
- TECHNOLOGY REVIEW - Data-gathering systems are being unveiled to meet the particular needs of NASCAR teams, as Lawrence Butcher reports
- PS: AUSTRALIAN V8 SUPERCARS - NASCAR could learn some change management lessons from this recently and radically revamped series
Volume 8 contents include:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - Sound engineering practice and harnessing technology not only help win races, they also promote safety
- Grid: IN THE NEWS - An insight into dealing with the limits placed on new car shapes in Xfinity, Hendrick Motorsports tests out a mobile app for its team, and more…
- In Conversation: MATT BORLAND - Lawrence Butcher talks to this NASCAR crew chief about his career and the importance of communicating with his driver
- Dossier: FURNITURE ROW RACING - Despite relatively modest resources, the success of this two-car team compares well against the giants of stockcar racing. Lawrence Butcher reports
- Insight: 2017 TOYOTA CAMRY CUP BODY - TRD’s technical director Andy Graves tells Lawrence Butcher about the development process behind this latest entrant to the Cup grid
- Insight: AERO NASCAR’s - Eric Jacuzzi explains the research underpinning the latest regulations
- Technical Review: NASCAR 2017 - Lawrence Butcher rounds up some recent developments in NASCAR technology
- Insight: BUMP STOPS - Bump stop set-up is key to on-track success, but how do you decide which system and type of set-up is best? Lawrence Butcher reports
- Special Investigation: SPRINT CAR CRASH SIMULATION - Lawrence Butcher reports on some research into modelling the effects of collisions on Sprint car chassis
- Appendix We explain how the three classes of NASCAR racing differ from each other
- PS: ROTARY INNOVATIONS - The aero war in NASCAR is not a recent thing, as this account of its 1960s origins explains
Volume 9 contents include:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - Right across the spectrum of stockcar racing, proper engineering is taking over from backyard mechanics
- Grid: IN THE NEWS - NASCAR unveils at-track optical scanning of car body shapes, details of the single-engine rule for 2018, and more…
- In Conversation: GARY NELSON - NASCAR’s former vice-president of r&d talks to Anne Proffit about his career highlights
- Dossier: 2018 CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1 CUP - When Chevrolet stopped producing the SS its NASCAR division opted for the Camaro ZL1 as a Cup replacement. Lawrence Butcher charts its development
- Insight: NASCAR R&D 2017 - NASCAR’s senior aerodynamicist Eric Jacuzzi looks back at the impact of some technologies in 2017, and which areas to expand for 2018
- Insight: XFINITY COMPOSITE BODIES - Lawrence Butcher reports on the project to design and produce new composite bodywork for the Xfinity series
- Digest: RAY EVERNHAM’S ‘GHOST’ - Lawrence Butcher explains how one man realized his dream of building the racer he’d always wanted
- Insight: KEVIN RUMLEY ON DIRT LATE MODELS - The Rumley device prompted a clampdown on suspension design in Dirt Late Model racing, writes Lawrence Butcher. Here’s how it worked
- Technical Review - Lawrence Butcher looks at some of the notable developments in short track technology since 2017
- Appendix - What are the differences between the three classes of NASCAR? We explain
- Supplier directory - Our listing of the companies providing products and services for the NASCAR community
- PS: RULE BENDER - As NASCAR brings in its Optical Scanning Station at race tracks, we look back on the exploits of arch-bender of the rules, Smokey Yunick
Volume 10 contents include:
- Intro: THE EDITOR - Bring on the Dirt Late Models, and the scope they give engineers to exercise their capacity for innovation
- Grid: IN THE NEWS - Ford’s Mustang and the Toyota Supra make their debuts in Cup and Xfinity, development details of the NASCAR tire pressure monitoring system from McLaren Applied Technologies, and Bosch unveils an all-new steering pump for Cup
- In Conversation: BRIAN CAMPE - With experience of both NASCAR and IndyCar, Team Penske’s engineering coordinator is well-placed to explain how the two series differ. Anne Proffit reports
- Dossier: 2019 FORD MUSTANG DEVELOPMENT - Lawrence Butcher reports on how Ford Performance maximized the aerodynamics of its new Mustang within NASCAR and time constraints
- Focus: OFF-TRACK TESTING - Peter Donaldson reports on the state of the art in simulating racecar behavior and performance
- Insight: NASCAR AERO - NASCAR has been looking at how to improve overtaking opportunities in Cup. Lawrence Butcher reports
- Digest: GINETTA G40R HOT ROD - Peter Donaldson charts the development of this visually striking racer, which was inspired by a version used as a control car
- Insight: SIMULATION AND MODELLING OF A DIRT LATE MODEL - As DLM racers start to look in depth at simulating their cars’ behavior, Lawrence Butcher reports on the development of a full-vehicle model
- Digest: ACME RACING SUPER MODIFIED - In a series with refreshingly few rules, Super Modifieds can feature some extreme innovations. Lawrence Butcher reports on how this one was developed
- Appendix - What are the differences between the three classes of NASCAR, and at which tracks do they race? We explain
- Supplier directory - Our listing of the companies providing services and products for the NASCAR community
- PS: NASCAR, THE NEXT GENERATION - We look at how the Gen 7 NASCAR Cup car is likely to differ from the Gen 6 version