For the third part of this NASCAR 101 term analysis, comments from NASCAR’s Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham and Ryan Newman emphasize just how hard it is to explain what race car drivers experience during a race. Wallace and Evernham must do that from the TV booth now. Newman is still experiencing it at a very stressful top level – on the track.

When reporter Dwight Drum asked Rusty Wallace if there was a best way to convey what drivers feel behind the wheel with fans, Rusty hinted that’s it’s not all the easy to share the intensity while commenting on TV.

“When those situations happen and it's time for a driver as a past driver to convey something to the fan as a driver,” Wallace said. “We'll figure out how to do it. I'm not going to tell you there's a best way to do it, it's just got to happen and it's got to come off the cuff and it's got to happen naturally. 

“The question will be, I wonder why that guy is doing that,” Wallace continued. “I might say, as a driver, when I drove the car, the reason I did it was because of this, because of that. Then there might be a question, why is the guy getting so mad. Ray (Evernham) might jump in and say when I had my driver doing that, I would tell him something different.” 

Ray Evernham was quick to join in.

“When I made him mad he went faster, so I'd try to make him mad,” Everhman said. “Emotionally you try to describe. I think the key for us is just going to be to describe what we actually felt in our experiences, because until you're in that battle or until you're going around Michigan at 200 miles an hour or you have to make a split second pit decision when the caution comes out, you really don't know what that's like, and I think the best thing we can do is just tell people.”

Honesty goes a long way, but the task is surely a tall one. Newman explained when asked what cameras can’t convey even when digital HD technology rides with him. 

“It’s tough. That’s a good question,” Newman said. “I guess the sense of speed from 140 miles per hour on up you don’t feel a change. The sense of closeness, it’s no different than being on the interstate. What you really have to put in perspective is being on the edge. I would expect anybody that’s been to war or anything like that knows what it’s like to be on edge and knows what it’s like to be close, knows what it’s like to have a shell whistle past your head or something like that. You have to know that edge. That’s what separates what we do at 180 miles per hour with the people that are running 105 miles per hour at a local short track. It’s everything to the next degree, to the highest degree.”

In an effort add to the straight talk and analytical explanation, a few definitions about speed on NASCAR racetracks follow. It just might help fans know a little more about what happens during a very fast show, before the green flag drops.

Glossary of Racing Terms from the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Media Guide

Restart: The waving of the green flag following a caution period.

Short track: Racetracks that are less than a mile in length.

Slingshot: A maneuver in which a car following the leader in a draft suddenly steers around it, breaking the vacuum, this provides an extra burst of speed that allows the second car to take the lead. See drafting. 

Splash and Go: A quick pit stop that involves nothing more than refueling with the amount of fuel necessary to finish the race.

Stop and Go: A penalty, usually assessed for speeding on pit road or for unsafe driving. The car must be brought onto pit road at the appropriate speed and stopped for one full second in the team’s pit stall before returning to the track.

Tight: Also know as understeer. A car is said to be tight if the front wheels lose traction before the rear wheels do. A tight car doesn’t seem able to steer sharply enough through the turns. Instead, the front end continues toward the wall.

Toe: Looking at the car from the front, the amount of tires are turned in or out. If you imagine your feet to be the two front tires of a race car, standing with your toes together would represent the toe-in. Standing with your heels together would represent toe-out. 

Trading paint: Slang term used to describe aggressive driving involving a lot of bumping and rubbing.

200 mph tape: Also known as “racer’s tape.” Duct tape so strong it will hold a banged up race car together long enough o finish a race.

Photo credit: Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com