Posted By: Screwball on July 25 2025 at 11:00:41 AM
I watched the first two nights on Flo and the last night on Dirtvision. I was there Friday sitting in turn one where all the action was. A few observations. I think there are a few things going on here, and maybe the most important isn't being talked about.
1) It's easy to blame track prep or the track. Many are blaming the track due to what many are saying there is a hole/rut in turn one that is causing the wrecks. This may be part of the problem, but not all IMO.
2) Others say it isn't the hole because some didn't hit it. It was the cushion or the track. The dirt was very heavy this week other than Saturday due to weather/humidity. On Friday night there were a few cars that ran high 12 second laps in qualifying, with most in the 13 second range. Rico was still turning mid 13s in the feature. Saturday, even after a rain delay, the track slicked off a bit. Not as fast. Only one bad wreck and that was early. Fast track, heavy cushion - another possible/probable cause.
3) Another factor that hardly anyone brought up. A picture says a thousand words they say. I found this on Twitter and I can't find again where I found it. There was a short conversation I found very interesting. Here is the picture;
Again, I don't know who took this picture, but it is a great shot. I'm not even sure if this is at Eldora or when it was taken, but that doesn't matter. If the person who took this shot reads this - please speak up for credit. They are a photogrpher it looked like.
What we are seeing here is the left lower frame rail (see arrow) hitting the dirt. You can also see how the left rear tire is deformed as this car is entering the corner. This is/has been a common problem for quite some time. How do we know? Because many of the cars today run a "raised rail" car - which means the left lower fram rail is 1 inch higher than the right - so it is one inch higher off the track. They know this condition already exists which is why they use the "raised rail" car.
A couple of things here. When the car goes into the turn the wing and air pushes down on the left rear as shown in the picture. Speed and entry angle are major factors to how much. We don't see a rut in turn 3 because entry angles are different. If enough cars have this condition, it would in time, create a rut in the corner, or at least contribute to a rut. If the frame rail becomes a plow, there is no other thing that can happen. Track prep is useless at this point, the rut is being put in by the cars. Another contributing factor.
More importantly, IMO, when the frame rail is hitting the ground, the suspension on that corner of the car (shock, torsion bar) is doing nothing. The frame is on the ground. That isn't good and why they have a suspension to begin with. Now you have a condition which I would consider "unsafe." How do we know this bottoming out of the frame rails are not contributing to the instability of the car which is part of what's causing the wrecks? In short - the frame bottoms out and helps bounce the car into the cushion/wall.
Conclusion; there seem to be a few things going on that might explain why these wrecks are happening, and not one single thing to blame. Maybe all of them are contributing to the carnage. We only hope as fans, and racers alike, the brain trust of racing has an adult conversation about this going forward before anyone gets hurt any worse than we've already seen.
I don't know where the technology is today, but the use of CAD and 3D modeling would prove without a doubt the geometrical limitations of frame and chassis design to prevent this.
Just my 2 cents.
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