TRACK BANKING

Friday, October 8, 2010

What are the differences between flat, steep and progressively banked NASCAR Series tracks?
Most oval NASCAR tracks are banked at various degrees to create greater momentum and velocity through the turns. Banking on the 23 tracks that host NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races range from a relatively steep 36° at Talladega Superspeedway, to a somewhat flat 12° at Martinsville Speedway.
"Progressively banked" oval tracks, such as Bristol Motor Speedway, feature a racing surface that gradually increases in degrees of banking - 24° to 30° - as the track gets closer to the outside retaining wall. This permits cars in the longer outside lanes to maintain higher speeds through the corners than those in the shorter inside lanes, resulting in more competitive racing.
Our list of similar NASCAR tracks groups and compares the degree of banking at each NASCAR track.

Adapted from information by NASCAR Media

RESTARTS

NASCAR has established a formula for determining the length of the restart zone on the track.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway that officials will take the pit-road speed limit, double that figure and then set that as the distance in feet of the restart zone. At the start of this season, NASCAR created a zone where the leader must restart the race instead of giving the leader discretion from a certain area coming out of Turn 4 up to the starting line to restart the race. The rule is designed to create a more consistent restart at each track.
Pit-road speeds typically range from 30 to 55 mph, depending on the length of the track. That means the restart zone will vary from 60-110 feet, depending on the track.
"It will be twice the pit-road speed," Pemberton said. "It's a means to get variable lengths in there for the race track itself. It's something the garage area asked us to do. Is it perfect; maybe, maybe not. But, it's a start."

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