Topic: How Fast is Fast? And How Does "Our" Fast Compare With "Their" Fast?
I've always wondered how to compare the speed of one type of car to another. For example how does the speed of our hardbody cars here in the Northwest compare to the speed of the hardbody cars they race back east? Or even how does their speed compare to Flexi cars? How does a car's performance compare from one track to another?
Here's a method I think we could use to get some idea. We have lap times available, so if we know the exact length of any given track, we can compute the average feet per second the cars are moving at. Although this number will vary depending on the track, and the driver, it will give us a good comparison of the different cars on any given track. We comparing from one track to another, the average feet per second will be an indicator of how difficult the track is, how well the car handles, and how skilled the driver is.
Here's an example. Inslot's Checkered Flag has a lap length of 81.833 feet. At the last OSCAR Late Model NASCAR race John Gill set the track record at 4.5487 seconds. Those figures equate to John's hardbody NASCAR completing a lap running at an average of 17.990 feet per second. In comparison, in the last Flex race the best lap time was a 4.5460. That Flexi had an average of 18.001 feet per second. By contrast the fastest Womp lap in the Sprint 20 race with a 5.5 second set breakout was a 5.509, for 14.854 feet per second. The differences between some types of cars may be subtle, but it stills gives an idea of which are faster.
