After the latest edition of the Brad and Carl Show at Atlanta on Sunday, it became even clearer to me that the wing allows the cars to get airborne more easily. I have been touting that line since last year. During the broadcast, even DW and his booth partners discussed the issue with the wing.
We all know that cars have been getting airborne in NASCAR for years, but with the advent of roof flaps, that had had been reduced. What few anticipated was the new air flow over the wing once the cars got turned. The roof flaps still deploy, but with little effect.
Later that night, Michael Waltrip started tweeting about the wing on Twitter.
I have been a fan of MW, but he is one of the biggest rubes in NASCAR. NASCAR does everything right and the racing is always great. He has never been involved in a boring race.
Michael tweeted:
“i believe if the world ends tomorrow, the ‘Wing’ will be blamed.
“im checking to see if all the flips in #nascar prior to the ‘Wing’ were due to nascar considering going to the ‘Wing’.”
“Al Gore will be on Good Morning America tomorrow with new information linking the ‘Wing’ to global warming.”
“goin to bed. got a headache. F#&** ‘Wing’”
And then with Kenny Wallace (Hope and Crosby, those two):
Kenny: “people are now going to become a ‘pain in the Wing’”
MW: “or i gota go take a ‘Wing’”
OK, so it’s all fun and games. Until someone gets hurt, which is exactly what happened at Talladega and was a whisker away from happening at Atlanta.
To say the wing has no culpability in the recent crashes is ludicrous since NASCAR has not presented any evidence one way or the other. And I am sure no one is 100% sure what will happen with the new spoiler. After all, these are not the same cars as that used to race, spoiler or not. What we knew is not what we will know. It’s all new ground to cover, folks.
I like you MW – but I think it is unwise to make fun of those asking about the wing and its effects during a wreck when people’s lives are at stake. If someone is seriously injured or killed, how will you tweet then?
Michael says he will make his thoughts on the wing controversy known on the Showtime NASCAR program.
Aw darn, I don’t have Showtime.
Let me know your thoughts.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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in my opinion the spoiler is useless…
Mikey, is that you?
The cars fly because when it gets tuned around all that air gets stuffed under the rear of the car (The huge opening under the rear bumper) and away it goes. A wing designed to make downforce Does Not make lift when air goes over it backwards. Even NASCAR said that the wing is not the problem. If there was a way for the air pressure under the car to be vented when it is going backwards (trunk lid flaps of some sort) the cars would be a lot less likely to fly. Have a good one.
JA — the rear bumpers are lower than the old car so the air going underneath is less. They lowered it to meet the front of the car better when drafting. NASCAR says the wing is not an issue, but I seriously doubt that. The old car would get up there as well, but the roof flaps worked. Something is going on with the design of the rear of the car and that includes the wing blocking air to the roof flaps. But we will see what happens when the spoiler goes back on.
Good read, Chuck. Keep it up.
RM
Look back at some old footage and you will find lots of cup cars with a spoiler and open roof flaps flying when the get turned at high speed. The only lift that wing provides is once it’s to late and the air flow is perpendicular to the surface of the wing. If you look at the footage of this weeks wreck that force was not even enough to pull the trunk open let alone lift a 3400 lb car. More then one factor is at play here for sure but IMHO the air being stuffed under the back of the car is the major cause. Wouldn’t you love to see the data from NASCAR’s many trips to the wind tunnel trying to solve this issue. Would definately be some interesting reading. Have a good one.