Our Latest Reality Race Car - Project Car

Okay, How Do You Plan To Do This?
Our Reality Racer will be built from a stock unit, an off-the-shelf chassis, but the car will be modified for multiple suspension options. Additional suspension mounting points have been ordered to allow quick changes from one popular style to another. In a sense, we're creating a "universal car" with these options.

Our car will be built to run primarily dirt tracks, but will also have the capability of running on pavement. We will keep the tracks to 11/42-mile and under in our testing. There are advantages to each surface and each track size, so conditions will be watched carefully. Every winning weekly race team knows the importance of keeping notes, so our project crew will take detailed information before, during, and after any such test.

The car will be constructed to run racing tires with very close tolerances on stagger, pressure, etc. We plan to use racing gasoline. Alcohol is a long shot, but you can never say "never" with this idea.

One of the key elements is the data acquisition equipment. This makes us illegal as far as competition goes. Once we get our data acquisition system in place, it will be a constant partner in the project. Experienced racers can tell plenty by feel, but the modern data acquisition will quantify what is learned and allow us to micro-manage changes to acquire the absolute best results. We'll then have the data to prove and be willing to share our findings.

We're pleased to have the support of Pi Research, one of the top names in the data acquisition field. This company established itself in major racing with reliable data and it will make sure our information is the best it can be. Watch for a glimpse of the Pi Research system to be used for the project in an upcoming issue.

What If It Doesn't Work?
We plan to tell you that here as well. In order to find out what to do with a problem, you have to know the problem. In order to correct a situation, in many cases, you have to have a baseline. We'll find the point where the results get worse and tell you that too.

Too many testing programs tell you "the right combination" without telling you how the conclusion was reached. We'll show the complete data of the worst-case scenario, the best-case scenario, and everything in between. Once you have the information, it's up to you how you want to use it.

Who Will Do The Testing?
There's quite a bit of negotiating going on right now to see who will do the work. It's a variable that will be considered when the testing is being done, and it's one that will be the most difficult to quantify. Our plan is to utilize a novice driver, one with some driving experience, but none in a Modified, and an experienced racer. Whenever possible, each of the drivers will test the car under similar circumstances and report the findings. The reader/driver can then relate his or her own experience to either of these cases.

In our plan, we expect to draw from the resources of racing entities, such as parts manufacturers, to help develop these tests. The criteria for the testing will be spelled out when the car is used.

Testing will take place in all available conditions, but there may be times when the car is actually on the track with those in competition. In these cases, we'll only venture into the pack when we know we can. For the most part, you can expect to see the car lag back to run on an open track so we can get clean data. If our plan isn't working, we're going to duck into the infield when the leader shows up.

Seeing Is Believing It's time to separate fact from fiction. We want to be able to state, once and for all, that a certain setup is out to lunch or a new idea is the true hot ticket. There's no time like the present because the racing world thirsts for solid tech information. That's our mantra at Circle Track. We give the racers the resources to be competitive. Well, racers, you just acquired another one.