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Speedometers a NASCAR nonentity

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Posted: Tuesday July 06, 1999 02:19 PM

NASCAR Know-How CLICK THE IMAGE TO LAUNCH CLIP Speedometers non-entity in Winston Cup cars Start (493 KB .mov) Archives • Click here for past editions of Rusty Wallace's NASCAR Know-How

Is there a speedometer in your race car? That's a question I hear all the time.

The answer is no.

So, the next question is usually, 'How do you know how fast you're going?' The answer to that is, it doesn't matter.

How fast you're going, believe it or not, is really a non-issue at the race track. Everything here is based on lap times, not miles per hour. When you ask someone how fast they were on a lap they might say we ran a 28-point-12. Or 28.12 seconds.

Miles per hour is crucial only during one part of the race -- when we make pit stops.

Before the race starts, the pace cars ride in cruise control at that particular day's pit road speed. The pace car drivers then tell the teams what their tachometer reads at that speed. While it may actually be 45 miles per hour, to me it's 4,300 RPM in second gear.

Then just before I come down pit road, my crew chief will remind me -- 4,300 in second gear. That way I know that I'm abiding by the pit road speed limit.

After all, a pit road penalty can cost you the race -- or more!