Late model/dirt track question.

Are these cars direct drive? I know I’m not asking the question correctly. I’m watching Eastbay reply right now and it’s a circle and i can’t see where they’d shift so I started wondering what the transmission/gearing is like.

Especially because it seems like feel/touch in the gas is so criticism you’d want as direct the feedback as possible.

sorry if confusing, a few beers in.

 

No, they have transmissions in them. Sprint Cars and Midgets are direct drive though. In a late Model they put it in a gear and keep it there. No shifting, but they do have a transmission. A sprintcar and midget have a slider quick change rear end. No clutch. Put it in gear, and push start it. They have one u-joint in them, and the drive shaft runs between your legs.

 

A Late Model has an internal clutch transmission. In low and reverse you hold down clutch pedal to move. High gear is 1:1 and directly coupled to the engine.

Gear ratio is accomplished in the rearend.

If I had to quess, East Bay with an Open motor low-mid 5:00s for gear.

 

It was super cool to watch this again. I’d be cool
To see a track without so much of a constant “drifting” but watching guys go low or high trying to find the best grip was fun.

 

Which is what messed up Tony Stewart so badly when it came in the cockpit

 

If I can sneak in another circle track question. Went to a Super Late Model race for the first time earlier this year at New Smyrna Beach. All the fast cars were against the rev limiter at the flag stand. Have been wondering if that was due to an RPM or rear gear ratio rule of some kind.

 

Chip rule to limit rpm. It's more important to gear them to come off the corner than to run the last half of the straight.

"Saves money" which overall it probably does, but being on the limiter all the time is also hard on engines.

 

Yup same way in flat track. Also helps them to hook up and slow them down for the corners.

hell in some races they are geared to hit the limited damn near off the corner.

sounds and seems crazy but definitely works.

 

And sometimes they are on the limiter due to wheel spin on a dry track. In a midget we play with the gearing as the track dries out too. Our power to weight is a lot higher then the late models though, so we are often doing the reverse of what they do. We gear a little higher to help reduce wheel spin off the corner for a better drive down the straight.

 

He caught on pretty quick though. That dude can drive anything.

 

They are direct drive in high gear via the trans. But yes like someone else said hold clutch down in reverse and low to drive around. Get rpms up, put into high and it's direct.

Brinn, Bert and falcon are the manufacturer of the trans.

 

Very few and I mean very very few have an rpm rule. Simply because you can not enforce it. Period

If the track is dry slick or slicks off during the race, sometimes they will bump the chip. I don't know ANYONE who sets their car up to hit the chip at the flag stand. That's not the way steel head or super late model cars work.

Our steel head 358 we will turn it 8800rpm. We set it to try to bump the chip right at the point of setting the car into the corner. There is never a gear rule either. Sometimes people just miss the setup. Gearing/rpm is part of the setup. In the summer you would never ever gear it for off the corner. You know the track is going to dry out. Then it's tire spin. And you'd be out of gear/pulling down the straight. You always gear for the long end of the track. In the winter track and dirt dependant you'd gear a little differently. Now if it's chilly outside, and the track is heavy and locked down, it could go either way. Mid straight gearing, or gearing for the long end, keeping the car in the high side and rpms up, keeping vehicle speed up. Problem is, if you know it's going to be a caution filled race, you'd be backing up.

 

Really cool stuff. I guess as a kid I didn’t really appreciate the late model/ sprint stuff from the technology standpoint but always loved Friday nights at the dirt track.
Now that I’m older and watching it a bit more with no other sports on- I really am coming to appreciate all what goes into it. I have very little understanding of it but intrigued with it all.
Seems like from a drivers perspective the throttle control and timing in the car has to be insane.

 

And if your watching it, you'll hear what they call a "droop rule."

The is the distance the left rear wheel is allowed to travel downward, when jacked up from the chassis.

You notice when the cars are on the gas how the lr raises and the tire goes forward up and under the driver. They are limiting that amount of travel.

 

Yeah my local dirt modifieds look pretty ridiculous when their rear ends twist and go up when they hit the gas. Its a bit hard to watch after being a sprint / midget fan.

 

Where I live almost all the classes do(chip rule). They mandate what box or limiter you can run. Doesn't take that much equipment to test if everyone's on the same ignition.

Also most of the weekly classes around here run a Crate. You have to be on the chip to go anywhere.

 

Tons of crate around here too. I don't understand how you "have to be on the chip to go anywhere"

 

IDK, differences in tracks and dirt I suppose.

 

I sat at Eldora during the big one they had and everyone fast was banging the chip halfway down the straight.

 

Which big one
The dream or the world? Imma go back and rewatch the races.