NASCAR 101: Inspections

To begin this blog post about inspections, we should start at the car, the main focus here.

These are the templates that teams use to build the race cars.

Scan 24

And here’s what one looks like at the beginning of the process.

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Now to the finished product.

Every team uses check lists to make double sure that everything is done on race day morning.

Some things are double checked and some things are quadruple checked.

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There’s lots to do and check on a car before a race.

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Some teams have less of a sheet.

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And some teams have more of a sheet.

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A crew chief looks over this checklist with a very discerning eye.

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Sometimes last minute decisions can be made based on the checklist.

After the team feels the car is ready for inspection, they push it to the NASCAR Officials. You can see me in this next photo, conducting a Garage Tour by the Inspection station.

The teams can stress at times about their car passing inspection.

It’s like they’re pushing their baby in for a doctor’s exam and they’re hoping for a good outcome.

The inside room of a NASCAR Inspection is off limits to a lot of people. Let’s take a look at some rooms around the country.

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The inspectors have their checklist also.

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It can be a solemn room. One that can make or break your day.

They use these weight plates to measure the weight of the car across all four tires. There has to be a certain distribution. Not anymore on the left side, specifically.

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The teams use lead bricks to counter the weight if it’s too low. Minimum weight used to be 3400 pounds, now it might be 3500.

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The engine is a 358 cubic inch 5.8L V8.

A NASCAR race car can generate over 700 horsepower.

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The race car is measured every which way you can think of.

Here’s a better look at the weight scales.

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Simple, really. But it does the job.

Here’s a car going through the inspection at Texas Motor Speedway.

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Teams and Sponsors never miss an opportunity to put a logo on something.

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This is called the claw. It measures the overall dimensions of the car.

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This is again at Texas Motor Speedway.

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Bush’s beans. Where’s the dog?

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The inspectors go over every detail of every race car they see.

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And keep diligent notes.

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Here are some parts NASCAR allows the teams to use.

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And here are the weights teams use to increase the weight of the car if it’s underweight.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at a NASCAR Inspection. The winning car always gets a post race inspection also, along with a few other cars too.

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That completes this NASCAR 101 Course. Give yourself 3 Credits towards Graduation. Congratulations on your Quest for a Degree from The Universite de Arachnida.

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