Davenport's car

[billetbirdcage]

Sorry figured more people might get it.

Smoke and mirrors! LOL

There are several things they are doing slightly different, but I have to say I really don't see any of them being that big of deal or some major advantage. It's a combo of things and they just have everything going for them right now.

Again going off what I know, could be some stuff I ain't aware of.

[powerslide]

Billet thinks like powerslide

[TALON75]

You're kinda right, they got something but the biggest deal is that the shock engineer(Kevin) is constantly making them better. They have a huge head start with a ton of data acquisition from racing not just practice laps and Kevin knows how to make that work. Not many out here can make that info work for them.

[FlatTire]

How do you record data during racing? Thought that was against the rules!

[hucktyson]

Because tech inspectors only check weight , body , tires and engine set back. Unless the car has been ripped apart at the track with independent observers I'm not sure why everyone is soooooo sure its legal ...

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

How do you record data during racing? Thought that was against the rules!

Indeed it is! I have heard others being accused of using it though.

[7uptruckracer]

Data Acquisition systems aren't that hard to see but doesn't mean hes not using it in testing. You can take those systems and upload them onto the pull down rig and tell alot.

[25drtrkr]

Could it be the Penske dampner, like mbracer suggested, but with bumpstops instead of the mini spring?

[billetbirdcage]

Data Acquisition systems aren't that hard to see but doesn't mean hes not using it in testing. You can take those systems and upload them onto the pull down rig and tell alot.

It'd be pretty hard to pull off hiding it without a ton of work and it's not so much tech you have to fool as the other racers. Most of the time you get caught/found out cause of other racers and very rarely by the tech department.

That being said, I'm gonna go off tangent here to say a few things:

I know everyone wants to know the trick of the week or what others are doing, nothing wrong with that but you have to keep it in perspective. I just went and tested last weekend and tried several things, a couple of them are what davenport/bloomer are doing. Not going to give out much info here, but only one of them was worth anything on the clock. Granted different cars, drivers, tracks, and what not, but only one of them was worth a tenth and you could maybe argue a tenth and half.

I guess my point is how many people are even anywhere that close to the times either of those 2 guys run???? Before you get overly worried about some of this stuff, you need to be able to consistently run real close to their lap times on a consistent basis. So concentrating on the basic's and driving until you get fairly close will pay more dividends then most of this other stuff.

Just food for thought

[Matt49]

It'd be pretty hard to pull off hiding it without a ton of work and it's not so much tech you have to fool as the other racers. Most of the time you get caught/found out cause of other racers and very rarely by the tech department.

That being said, I'm gonna go off tangent here to say a few things:

I know everyone wants to know the trick of the week or what others are doing, nothing wrong with that but you have to keep it in perspective. I just went and tested last weekend and tried several things, a couple of them are what davenport/bloomer are doing. Not going to give out much info here, but only one of them was worth anything on the clock. Granted different cars, drivers, tracks, and what not, but only one of them was worth a tenth and you could maybe argue a tenth and half.

I guess my point is how many people are even anywhere that close to the times either of those 2 guys run???? Before you get overly worried about some of this stuff, you need to be able to consistently run real close to their lap times on a consistent basis. So concentrating on the basic's and driving until you get fairly close will pay more dividends then most of this other stuff.

Just food for thought

^^^
My nomination for post of the month.
We recently "tried some things" because I thought I was missing something...we did nothing but go backwards. We went back to basic setups and immediately came back toward the front. In my case, the driver needs a lot more work than the race car.

[moonshine]

I think we're getting off subject here. I don't want to copy it. I can't drive like Superman, he's been fast in everything he's ever been in. I'm just curious. They keep a lr on it all times and it's hard to see. It
has a pivot and looks like a spring of sorts with chain going to the birdcage or tube, I couldn't see. The car comes thru the pits already down on the right side. The only movement is the left hike and a little movement on the left front.

[Matt49]

I've considered trying a spring rod on the LR upper to take some of the extreme rigidness out of the LR when the car is fully hiked. My thinking behind this is not to necessarily "soften" the LR as that is obviously where we get so much dynamic wedge but to help the LR tire conform better than just the sidewall will allow on choppy surfaces.
Anybody else have thoughts on this or am I out on a limb?

[powerslide]

^^^
My nomination for post of the month.
We recently "tried some things" because I thought I was missing something...we did nothing but go backwards. We went back to basic setups and immediately came back toward the front. In my case, the driver needs a lot more work than the race car.

I've considered trying a spring rod on the LR upper to take some of the extreme rigidness out of the LR when the car is fully hiked. My thinking behind this is not to necessarily "soften" the LR as that is obviously where we get so much dynamic wedge but to help the LR tire conform better than just the sidewall will allow on choppy surfaces.
Anybody else have thoughts on this or am I out on a limb?

You already forgot about this post? I feel like "we" and "a lot" of teams the driver needs more work than the car

[PushinTheLimit]

Alot of us just don't have the time and money to go test "trick" setup stuff... the cheapest fix is to fix the driver.

[Matt49]

You already forgot about this post? I feel like "we" and "a lot" of teams the driver needs more work than the car

:-)
Now that shouldn't stop me from wanting to experiment though, right? :-)
The challenge with the last round of "testing" that we did was that I stuck with it too long. I went through a spell a few years ago where I would try something and if it didn't immediately work I would scrap the idea without massaging it at all. I was too quick to go back to what was comfortable. More recently, I over compensated and was stubbornly trying to make something work that just wasn't going to pan out. Part of the psychology of all this stuff is identifying when it's time to tap out. But one thing is for sure, you never learn if you don't try new stuff.
Guys like Bloomquist and Moyer didn't get where they are running the same stuff everybody else has on. That's not to say that there is some secret setup out there but there is ALWAYS room for improvement.