“By all accounts it was the most spectacular wreck of the Mid American Stock Car Series’ 2012 season. It happened shortly before the halfway point of the 75 lap event during the Short Track National Championships at Rockford Speedway in Illinois. While jostling for position down the backstretch, Rick Corso (#88) and Brian Holtz (#3) locked together and slammed into the pit entrance wall in the notorious turn three. Holtz bounced off of the large tire placed at the end of the pit entrance wall. The tire went flying and Holtz got airborne, spinning spectacularly with chunks of car spewing across the track.

There was quite a bit of fanfare when NASCAR introduced their new Sprint Cup Series cars earlier this year. They called them their GEN-6 cars and said the new car "puts the 'stock' back in stock car racing." The move came about after NASCAR's highly successful implementation of their Car Of Tomorrow (COT) from 2007 thru 2012. On the plus side, the COT increased safety, made for a more stable body for builders and inspectors at the track but lacked for NASCAR's four partners; Chevy, Dodge, Ford and Toyota. The manufacturer's chief complaint matched those of the fans - the cars all looked the same. And they were right.

The right tools mean everything. Sure, you can get by with a little ingenuity and a lot of luck, but there is something to be said about how easy a job is with the correct tools.

During a recent conversation with an experienced engine builder I realized we'd not recently discussed the importance of, reasons why and areas of concern about proper engine component integration. Based on some of his questions, I came to the conclusion that I'd probably not done a sufficient job when last this was a topic of discussion, some time ago.

After having traveled around a full three quarters of this continental United States on the AMSOIL Great American Circle Track Tour, I've developed a list of things I like to see, and some I don't, at racetracks. I've wanted to do this piece for some time now, but waited until I had sufficient ammunition. I feel like, after doing the upper mid-west portion this past year, I have plenty to talk about. So let's get after it.

One of the issues every engine builder faces when trying to build maximum performance in a typical stock car racing engine is tuning each cylinder for optimum power. This is because of the common-plenum design, which is a fancy way of saying that the carburetor feeds air and fuel into an open area of the intake and the eight intake runners attach to this common area.

Our next two stops on our Tour, after our long week previously spent traversing all of the state of Wisconsin, takes us first out of Wisconsin to Iowa and Hawkeye Downs Speedway for a Friday night show. Then we head straight north back into Wisconsin and to the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway for the Saturday night races.

For the first time ever, NASCAR is inviting the Late Model Stock drivers to compete on the surface at Daytona International Speedway.

It's important to know how to properly measure for the amount of caster and camber in your race car. All teams need to learn the proper procedure for determining the amount of each that exists in the front end geometry of their cars.

When we left SRE Engine Techniques, our 362 was stripped down to a short-block. The oil pan was removed and we took a quick look at the rotating assembly, but didn’t have the time to really dive into it. Since then, Steve Rolenc has pulled everything apart and taken a more in depth look at each of the components.

Whenever we talk to racers-which is practically every day-it seems universal that one of the most hated jobs is diagnosing electrical problems. Electricity isn't voodoo, but for some of us it might as well be.

It's an eventual truth that at some point you're going to get tangled up with another car or with the wall. When that happens, you'll need to be pulled off the wall, another car, or the track. Being prepared can be extremely helpful to track workers, can help shorten cautions, and keep the show moving along. Allstar Performance has made being prepared cheap and easy with its Bumper Hookup Kit.

Longarce Racing Products has taken instrumentation to the next level with its new line of AccuTech SMi Gauges. AccuTech SMi Stepper Motor gauges use a small electronic motor to drive the pointer. It's electronically controlled, making it much more precise than the traditional mechanical instrument, whose accuracy can be affected by many factors.

Half of our four day run of races in Wisconsin is over and we head across the state westward to the NASCAR sanctioned Elko Speedway located in Minnesota just 30 miles south of Minneapolis. That takes care of our Saturday night races, and then we get up Sunday morning and travel all the way across Wisconsin east to Slinger Speedway, some 265 air miles away. Of course, we aren't flying, so our journey is longer.

Generally, dirt track racers don't spend as much time working through every conceivable setting for the front end of their race cars compared to their asphalt-racing cousins. That doesn't mean that dirt racers aren't as advanced or don't care about handling as much-it just means that dirt track racing chassis have developed in a different manner.

I'm sitting at my desk pouring over the data, trying to find a way to present all of it in a way that makes sense. There's a lot of it! Even with my notes about each dyno run, it's difficult remembering everything that happened in just one day on the dyno. Jet changes, ignition changes, pyrometer readings, brake specific fuel consumption, let's not even bring horsepower and torque into the mix-it's a lot to keep straight. Let's start at the beginning.

Can a sealed Midget engine compete with an open engine? Should it? The crew at Esslinger Engineering thinks so. They have taken it to the next level, proving that you can not only compete, but win with the EST sealed engine. And the kicker is, it puts out about 35 less horsepower than its open engine counterpart!

Christmas came early at the Circle Track offices this year when the good folks at NecksGen sent over its latest head-and-neck restraint for us to test out. While performing a real world test of a head-and-neck restraint isn't something high on our priority list if you catch our drift, we will be wearing them whenever we climb into one of our project cars for an on-track test or to trade paint in an actual race. Since there is no money left in the budget for new front clips, we'll just cross our fingers that nothing too overly exciting occurs.

In the Oct. '12 issue of CT (One Hit Too Many), we outlined what had happened to a fellow racer who had encountered too many concussions. That piece provided a lot of educational value for us and hopefully our readership. Now, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has proven to be subject to multiple (more than one) concussions.

Your mother was right: Accidents happen.

Last month we introduced you to Kyle Strickler, one of the few IMCA Dirt Modified racers successful enough to be able to race as a full-time professional. The last time we were at Strickler’s shop in Mooresville, North Carolina, we checked out his credentials and counted up 25 wins in 50 races so far this season (and since then he finished a very impressive Third in the IMCA Super Nationals).

So you’ve bought a new-to-you race car—now what? It would be nice to jump in and go racing, and while some people do just that, it isn’t necessarily the smartest move. Especially if you’re looking to win races, and a championship (why else would you be racing?) Last month we briefly looked at what you should pay attention to when buying a new car. Now that you have it, it’s time to rip it apart in preparation for the track.

Going fast is important. I mean what would racing be without speed? But on the other side of the coin, going fast will end in dramatic fashion if you aren’t able to safely set your car for each corner and control deceleration. We all know this controlled decel comes from the braking system’s ability to slow the wheels down, but there is much more to the equation.

Ever since head and neck restraints became accepted shortly after Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death, one group was left out of the equation, youngsters. There simply was no restraint designed for children racers. Until now. Using the proven technology in the standard adult unit, the NecksGen Youth is a narrower unit to accommodate the smaller torso of youth racers. The biggest difference is the shoulder platform and wing size - the youth unit accepts a 2 inch seat belt making the unit lighter and much narrower.

Things at the race track tend to get chaotic. When it gets out of hand, this chaos can lead to thousands of dollars worth of lost tools and damaged equipment, which is why proper storage is essential. Beyond that, having everything organizing in one location, especially if it’s mobile, makes life in the shop and in the pits exponentially easier.