The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Nascar exhaust flames

I'm not a Nascar fan, but did watch the Pheonix race yesterday.When the driver lifts the throttle going into a turn,flames come out of the exhaust on the engine overrun.Now, I know what causes it,excess fuel being sucked past the closed throttle plates,getting burned in the exhaust pipe, blah blah.
But some cars flame more than others,some don't flame all.In fact, the flamming is not consistant with similar engines build by the same builders.
So I'm thinking the flames are dependent on driving style, some drivers let up more in corners, or they may left foot brake and still have pressure on the throttle pedal like rally drivers do or whatever.What do you think?
I do think Gordon did an excellent driving job to bring a slower car towards the end to a good finish.

I thought there was a 'No flaming' rule here

Hey, I'm not flamming,the race car are!!!

It is dependant on how the car is handling at the time. If the car is pushing, the front wheels loose traction first, the driver has to get off the gas more and longer to get the car to turn. The more it pushes, the bigger the flame.
The cars that are handling good will have very little flame because the driver is only off the gas for a second before getting back on it.

Ok, that makes sense, Gordons car was flamming good towards the end of the race and he was getting slower.
Now if the car gets loose in the [censored] end, the driver may also have to get off the throttle early,sometimes a driver may have to get on the gas to bring the [censored] end around on a car that runs wide from understeer,right?

The only way to get through the turn when in an understeer situation is to get off the gas and stay off it. Any throttle will push you higher towards the wall.
With an oversteer situation you need to be on the throttle and then "chase the rear end of the car up the track". Neutral or a slight oversteer is the fast way around.
On a track like Phoenix the fast way is to stay on the bottom. If you give the car behind you an opening he will stick his nose in. So, you stay off the throttle enough to stay on that bottom line. On these one groove race tracks you see a lot of flame because everybody is defending the bottom line.
The faster/best handling cars will generally show the least flame unless they are trying to lap a slower car. Then they have to get way off the throttle and they show flame too.

Back when I circuit raced motorcycles they didn't flame so much as made a telltale puff of blue smoke when the rider blipped the throttle and downshifted for a turn.No disc brakes then, so down shifting was all important as the brakes usually faded away halfway through the race.As the rider got tired, he downshifted sooner,good time to turn inside for a pass.
Bikes are faster too with a little oversteer, but ground the frame hard in a turn would generally unload the rear wheel ,lotta oversteer then
Tony M,you raced Formula Ford????

I aired up my truck tire with 1/4 of a pound,,sure help it a lot....it is now just like I want it,,,,thought that I would help make this a truck topic,,glad to see Truck-ed up watching the race, sort of like football, the last few min are sometimes the best....just got back from a short drive, still have not taken care of my glove-compartment,,dont know where I would put the stuff, I am sure it is stuff that I need,,

Is this truck related?

It is now

No it doesn't have to be exactly truck related in this forum , I backed off a little,too much understeer.
Fred, I watch a little fooball.My son in law works middle management in the office of the Bills. I can get 50 yard line 3rd row tickets anytime,sometimes for free.But I never go,the Bills are boring and the fans are rude

I just makes sense that Jeff Gordon would flame more...
He is a flamer!

Truck-up.the cowboys are in the same boat,, but the fans are great,,,trying to get a hold of some season hockey tickets

This is what I have raced in the past. All I need is money to get back into it. Specracer Ford.

[img]http://www.sccapro.com/srfps/03/pho/sun%20images/03-nac-sunrace-srfps-23.jpg[/img]

How much would it take, could I have pitt pass, or be your PR person

The cars are just under $20K to buy used. But you can run with an established team and pay per weekend and use their car, you pay for damage. That is what I did. This is like $2,500 for 3 day weekend plus entry fees. They do all work, tire changes, etc. You just show up and drive.
Tube frame, 1600 lb including driver. Handles like a real race car. 135mph top speed. No windscreen, very low to the ground.