To Ed Martin: N2--Talladega

I've heard that Talladega is being rebuilt in NASCAR 2, and the new track will allow 3-wide racing. Two questions about this: 1) Will the lowest lane still be the faster groove no matter what? Anotherwords, if a car is running by itself on the low line, and a line of cars is drafting in the middle lane, will the solo car win out because of the low groove, like the track is now? Or, will a number of cars hooked up in the higher lanes be able to bypass the lower car, simply because of the physics of the draft, as in real life? 2) Will the tri-oval FINALLY allow side-by-side racing, or will it still be a 'No Passing Zone'? Kyle Langston PowWow - same

Quoted text (13 lines)

> I've heard that Talladega is being rebuilt in NASCAR 2, and the new >track will allow 3-wide racing. Two questions about this: >1) Will the lowest lane still be the faster groove no matter what? >Anotherwords, if a car is running by itself on the low line, and a >line of cars is drafting in the middle lane, will the solo car win out >because of the low groove, like the track is now? Or, will a number >of cars hooked up in the higher lanes be able to bypass the lower car, >simply because of the physics of the draft, as in real life? >2) Will the tri-oval FINALLY allow side-by-side racing, or will it >still be a 'No Passing Zone'? >Kyle Langston >PowWow - same

1) Drafting will work... more like real life. 2) Passing will be possible. Ed Martin Producer, Series Director NASCAR Racing League Papyrus / Sierra On-Line, Inc.

Something I'd like to add is this: The high lane at Talladega shouldn't slow the car down. The reason you don't want to consistently run the high lane is because it's the long way around the track. Go to a qualifying session at Daytona or Talladega and you'll see what I mean. On the warmup lap, the drivers ride right up against the wall, all the way around the track--even through the tri-oval!!!! This frees the engine up, which is essential to getting a restrictor plate motor up to speed, and effectively gives them a little more distance to get up to speed. Then, on the two timed laps, they run right on the bottom of the track in the turns, only coming next to the wall exiting and entering the turns. What I'm saying is, riding the high side at Talladega should free the engine up, not bogg it down like it does in NASCAR 1. And, for you guys doing the redesigning--it should be possible to ride the wall all the way around the track, EVEN THROUGH THE TRI-OVAL!!!!! Pat ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pat Campbell The Chevy Monte Carlo 6,94,88,16,4,25 Lexington, AL NASCAR's Wide Load War Eagle!!! Home Page: http://fly.hiwaay.net/~pscampbe/pscindex.html NASCAR Stats: http://fly.hiwaay.net/~pscampbe/nascstat.html -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quoted text (18 lines)

> I've heard that Talladega is being rebuilt in NASCAR 2, and the new > track will allow 3-wide racing. Two questions about this: > 1) Will the lowest lane still be the faster groove no matter what? > Anotherwords, if a car is running by itself on the low line, and a > line of cars is drafting in the middle lane, will the solo car win out > because of the low groove, like the track is now? Or, will a number > of cars hooked up in the higher lanes be able to bypass the lower car, > simply because of the physics of the draft, as in real life? > 2) Will the tri-oval FINALLY allow side-by-side racing, or will it > still be a 'No Passing Zone'? > Kyle Langston > PowWow - same

Let me take this one. If you can find a set of drafting cars that don't want to drive the fastest line, then you've found something rarer than a unicorn. Think about, 1) drafting cars will always be able to run faster than a single car, 2) drafting cars will undoubtedly be using the fastest groove. Yes, the tri-oval is supposed to have at least a 2-wide groove.

Quoted text (24 lines)

>> I've heard that Talladega is being rebuilt in NASCAR 2, and the new >> track will allow 3-wide racing. Two questions about this: >> 1) Will the lowest lane still be the faster groove no matter what? >> Anotherwords, if a car is running by itself on the low line, and a >> line of cars is drafting in the middle lane, will the solo car win out >> because of the low groove, like the track is now? Or, will a number >> of cars hooked up in the higher lanes be able to bypass the lower car, >> simply because of the physics of the draft, as in real life? >> 2) Will the tri-oval FINALLY allow side-by-side racing, or will it >> still be a 'No Passing Zone'? >> Kyle Langston >> PowWow - same >Let me take this one. If you can find a set of drafting cars that don't >want to drive the fastest line, then you've found something rarer than a >unicorn. Think about, 1) drafting cars will always be able to run >faster than a single car, 2) drafting cars will undoubtedly be using the >fastest groove. >Yes, the tri-oval is supposed to have at least a 2-wide groove.

I completely understand how the draft works. As far as a drafting line of cars ALWAYS driving the lowest lane in the turns, this isn't always true. For example, let's say Driver A is going around the track using the optimum line (i.e. the lowest line) throught the turns. Meanwhile, Drivers B-N are flying around the track like a freight train, doing the same thing. When the 'train' catches up to Driver A's car, they won't be able to use the bottom lane to pass in the turns, and will be forced to pass in the next highest lane. No problem, if the track is designed just like the real life Talladega. That was the gist of my question. Naturally if the drafting cars were by themselves with no one to pass, they would go around the track like that, cutting to the apex in the turns. It's when drivers behind the lead car have to decide whether to stay with the lead car, which is passing in the second lane, or to go with the lone car, which is slower by itself, but is in the faster lane through the turns. Kyle Langston PowWow - same