Bristol NASCAR

>I can only hit 121MPH at Bristol for a lap average, and only >infrequently, does anybody have any recommendations. Well, since you asked - practice your driving! :-) The default ACE setup is capable of laps much faster than that... You need to shift to 3rd in the turns, but other than that there's nothing special to driving that track. -- -Brad

I can only hit 121MPH at Bristol for a lap average, and only infrequently, does anybody have any recommendations. JOE

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ Nah ya don't. Just set 4th gear a little shorter. This, and some practice will have you turning laps in the 127 mph range. Incidently, the only oval where the big boys shift during a lap is Pocono. Everywhere else is 4th gear all the way. And I certainly wouldn't want to shift at Bristol during a race. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pat Campbell Go #6, #94 Huntsville, AL 1993-AttitUde; 1994-AUdacity; 1995-??? War Eagle!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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> >Well, since you asked - practice your driving! :-) The default ACE setup > >is capable of laps much faster than that... You need to shift to 3rd in the > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > >turns, but other than that there's nothing special to driving that track. > ^^^^^^ > Nah ya don't. Just set 4th gear a little shorter. This, and some > practice will have you turning laps in the 127 mph range. Incidently, the > only oval where the big boys shift during a lap is Pocono. Everywhere > else is 4th gear all the way. And I certainly wouldn't want to shift at > Bristol during a race.

Au contraire, Pocono is the only SUPERSPEEDWAY where they shift. On the short ovals (in particular) they shift all the time. It also depends on some of the racer's preferences. Some like getting the extra power doing the shift, some don't. And that's why it's racin'. Everyone does it their style to take the checkered. As to not wanting to shift the entire race at Bristol: no one ever claimed that racing NASCAR was easy. If it was, any fool could do it. I've raced Bristol (and did rather well all things considered 486/33 Thrustmaster Mark 1 joystick, poor [now] video card) for 250 laps and I shifted through every turn. I led 247 laps (would have led them all if it wasn't for the crappy pit slot!) and posted a 108.xxx average race speed. The eventual winner did about a 124.xxx with a P-(I think 90), ProWheel from ProControls w/pedal assembly and a top line card. He's also very skilled having won most of the league events. I *know* that shifting out gave me the edge over the AI in accelerating out of the turns and down the stretch. All in all, Bristol was a lot of fun and Dover should be much of the same. Mike NASCAR Racing League #110; Papyrus Support BBS

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>> practice will have you turning laps in the 127 mph range. Incidently, the >> only oval where the big boys shift during a lap is Pocono. Everywhere >> else is 4th gear all the way. And I certainly wouldn't want to shift at >> Bristol during a race. >Au contraire, Pocono is the only SUPERSPEEDWAY where they shift. On the >short ovals (in particular) they shift all the time. It also depends on >some of the racer's preferences. Some like getting the extra power doing >the shift, some don't. And that's why it's racin'. Everyone does it >their style to take the checkered.

How to tell if a WC/BGN driver is shifting at Bristol: He's the first one out of the race. -- +--------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Raleigh, NC | Exit the Gates of Hell - run Linux! | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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>>Au contraire, Pocono is the only SUPERSPEEDWAY where they shift. On the >>short ovals (in particular) they shift all the time. It also depends on >>some of the racer's preferences. Some like getting the extra power doing >>the shift, some don't. And that's why it's racin'. Everyone does it >>their style to take the checkered. >How to tell if a WC/BGN driver is shifting at Bristol: He's the first >one out of the race.

Good one Bob! And Mike, look at any Winston Cup or Busch Grand National in-car shot, at any oval track on the NASCAR circuit (except, of course, Pocono) and show me one instance, other than a restart, that a driver shifts gears during a lap. Trust me, it doesn't happen. It may work for you, and that's fine. But I'll take 4th gear like the big boys, thank ya very much. Pat ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pat Campbell Go #6, #94 Huntsville, AL 1993-AttitUde; 1994-AUdacity; 1995-??? War Eagle!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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> >Au contraire, Pocono is the only SUPERSPEEDWAY where they shift. On the > >short ovals (in particular) they shift all the time. It also depends on > >some of the racer's preferences. Some like getting the extra power doing > >the shift, some don't. And that's why it's racin'. Everyone does it > >their style to take the checkered. > How to tell if a WC/BGN driver is shifting at Bristol: He's the first > one out of the race.

Not so. Did you see the BGN race at the Glen? There *everyone* has to shift. Then you had the Supertrucks at Bristol which have an engine similar to the BGN cars (IF I remember right) and they did a bit of shifting at Bristol. Their setups aren't quite the same as the cars, but, the techniques employed are similar.

>Not so. Did you see the BGN race at the Glen? There *everyone* has to >shift. Then you had the Supertrucks at Bristol which have an engine Uh, I said oval track, right? It is true you would definitely have to shift at the Glen, because it is a road course. Unfortunately, I did not see the Supertruck race at Bristol, and if you noticed them shifting during a lap, I'll have to take your word for it. But I can definitely tell you that the BGN cars DID NOT shift during the spring race at Bristol. Pat ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pat Campbell Go #6, #94 Huntsville, AL 1993-AttitUde; 1994-AUdacity; 1995-??? War Eagle!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> >Not so. Did you see the BGN race at the Glen? There *everyone* has to > >shift. Then you had the Supertrucks at Bristol which have an engine > Uh, I said oval track, right? It is true you would definitely have to > shift at the Glen, because it is a road course. Yes, you did. However, I used it to point out that they do indeed shift on the course. And not just one gear, the jumped down two gears. This means that on the hard turns of a short track a one gear shift isn't that improbable. They shifted down going into the turn and up coming out. Pretty much the same way I worked Bristol for my race. It gets you slow for the turn faster which allows for a greater turn rate (just like a jet fighter) then allows a faster acceleration out of a turn. This is what wins Bristol. The drag race down the straights. In this respect it's more like Martinsville than Martinsville itself. That's where they call in two dragstrips between the turns. This is a perfect description of Bristol. Mike