Ask anyone fielding a race team what they could do to capture a competitive edge, and one of the likely answers is that having a couple of cars to play with would be great. Although there are not a lot of two-car teams on the Saturday-night circuit, they do exist. Some teams have multiple cars just for backup, while others have two that actually compete together as a team on the track. In either case, having two or more cars can be a distinct advantage.
However, since most Saturday-nighters have only one car, they must seek any advantage they can just to keep up with the other single-car teams-let alone multicar teams. That means teams with one car have to be more inventive, and certainly more efficient.
It is no different in NASCAR. Those who have a single-car program, face immense challenges to keep up with the Joneses-especially on a level of racing such as Winston Cup, where the demands to compete have risen to astronomical heights. Many teams believe the two-platoon system is the way of the future, and that single-car teams are a dying breed.
A quick look at the number of multicar teams in Winston Cup reveals that single-car teams are in decline. Since the beginning of 2000, there have been 12 teams with two or more cars. The multicar teams field 29 cars in all. And when this number is understood in the context that there are 43 slots available to start a Winston Cup race, it is even clearer that the heat is on for the single-car teams.
With so much pressure to stay competitive, it begs the question, how is a single-car team able to survive in an increasingly multiple-race car world? To find out, Circle Track recently visited with a one-car team-Jasper Motorsports in Mooresville, North Carolina.
There, we were accompanied by team member Jeff Cheatham to check out how this single-car team manages to keep up with seemingly more sophisticated race shops of teams such as Hendrick, Yates, Roush, and the like.
What we learned was both surprising and impressive from the standpoint of sophistication and personnel.
Front OfficeAs with any business endeavor, success begins with its leaders, and Jasper has a solid foundation in its three owners: Doug Bawel, Mark Wallace, and Mark Harrah. They bring strong racing enthusiasm and management capabilities to the front office.
Beyond the front office leadership, any successful race team has to have other basics to ensure that it builds a car that will be able to compete. To accomplish this, some teams rely on outside sources for many of their race car components, such as chassis and engines. On the other hand, many do it all in-house. Jasper's philosophy is to keep the key functions of engine and chassis development in-house.
From chassis operations to engine building, the Jasper venture has made a significant investment in equipment to keep the team on par with multicar operations.
Chassis DevelopmentOn the chassis front, the Jasper facility has sophisticated equipment such as a mechanical surface plate, a Faro Arm, and a chassis dyno. Each of these devices plays an integral part in the complex process of chassis development.
The mechanical surface plate serves as the main platform for working on the chassis. It is essential that a level surface be used in chassis development because of the critical measurements that must be made. The plate employed at Jasper is level within 30 thousandths of an inch. It locks three separate datum points, which serve as the main reference of a specific chassis type. With a chassis on the plate, engineers have a fundamental tool on which to build a reliable chassis. It also serves as an R&D tool in predicting and manipulating shock and suspension component heights and travel distances. In the event of an on-track altercation, the plate provides the basis for seeing where any chassis dimensions have been altered so repairs can be made.
A Faro Arm is a device which, when used in conjunction with a computer, digitizes the chassis into a 3-D model for analysis. It also functions as a replacement for a jig fixture on blueprinted chassis schemes.
A chassis development program of any magnitude in Winston Cup demands the use of a chassis dyno, and Jasper employs a Dyno Jet chassis dynamometer. The Dyno Jet is an inertia machine which, when used in combination with its computers, provides data that expresses powertrain and chassis effectiveness and efficiency. It is instrumental in exploring vibration analysis, exhaust system and driveline friction optimization. A chassis dyno can spot problems in the shop instead of at the track, which, of course, saves time and money.
Engine BuildingAnother chief component of the Jasper racing program is the engine-building and development department. Unlike some single-car teams, Jasper builds and tests all of its powerplants in-house. To do that, the team employs two machines, an engine dynamometer and a Spintron, which have become requirements in engine development within the Winston Cup community.
An engine dynamometer is used in the engine shop as a primary tool to determine horsepower, but it provides other measurements as well. All of an engine's data can be output in printed form or stored in the computer for future use. The engine dyno is another of those essentials for a complete engine R&D program; Jasper employs two.
The Spintron, another must-have device that has permeated the engine rooms of Winston Cup shops, has kept the Jasper team on the cutting edge. This machine is used to test the longevity and the dynamics of engine valvetrain components. It has an electric motor that can turn an engine as high as 20,000 rpm. As with the engine dyno, the information can be printed out and stored in the computer, which is part of the equipment.
PersonnelBeyond the equipment, it makes sense that highly qualified personnel are needed to use and interpret the information for each machine used in the shop. Jasper has, at its core, some of the best in the business. In addition to the talented staff at the shop, engineers Mark Harrah, James Towers, and Roger White lead the R&D.
In the end, fielding a single-car Winston Cup team with the goal of being a competitor requires several manda-tory basics: front office personnel with the horsepower to keep the capital stream flowing; quality personnel to build, test, and evaluate engines and chassis; and a competitive driver to put the efforts of those in the shop on the track.
Although these requirements may seem obvious, the key to survival is the efficiency and spirit of those who make it work. Taken by themselves, they are crucial parts to the equation, but they must blend so the whole system hits on all eight cylinders, so to speak.
This is what has successfully been accomplished at Jasper Motorsports, and it's clear that this scrapping, lean machine is ready to continue enduring the challenges and persevere to achieve the desired results.
The lesson to be learned for the Saturday-night warrior in all this should not be lost. While this account is centered on what it takes to make a single team in NASCAR work, the underlying theme of people, dedication, and desire are the very same ingredients required for any race program to find success. That's something you can take to the bank.
Jasper Motorsports: The CompanyFounded in 1995 by a trio of team owners, Jasper Motorsports is a sophisticated enterprise for a single-car team.
First among the partners is Doug Bawel, CEO of the team's primary sponsor, Jasper Engines and Transmissions in Jasper, Indiana. Bawel sits at the helm of America's largest remanufacturer of gasoline and diesel engines and transmissions. On race weekends, you can find him on top of the war wagon, keeping the lap-timing records.
Mark Wallace, from Atlanta, is the second partner. Wallace owns and operates a Jasper Engines distributor location in Atlanta and serves as the team's financial advisor. On race day, he's on his grandstand perch doing spotter's duty.
Rounding out the ownership trio is Mark Harrah, who also owns and operates a Jasper Engine distributorship in Greensboro, North Carolina. Harrah also serves as a director of engineering and R&D for the team. He spends race day in the garage as an adviser on car setup.