How much does the design of a track affect a car? Chase Elliott has the answer.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver directly voiced his concerns about a little-discussed aspect of the track formerly known as Gateway Motorsports Park. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet ended a 42-race winless streak with a convincing win at Texas Motor Speedway this year.
The race was dramatic, to say the least. He expects further improvements and was very open about his recent concerns with design elements at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Moreover, he said, these elements will directly strain the braking system of the next generation car. Ahead of the weekend, Elliott spoke to the media. In a video shared by FrontStretch, one of the reporters asked: “This place is a very difficult place for the brakes.
How do you find the balance between maximizing the braking force and avoiding rotor damage? This is a subject that hasn’t been discussed much recently.” He compared the dynamics between the braking mechanisms of the next generation cars and racetrack designs like those at Gateway Motorsports Park. “It’s not that you have to have enough brakes,” Chase Elliott explained, “The issue is getting the brakes to heat up properly so they can withstand the heat for long periods of time.” It has nothing to do with insufficient brakes or cooling. These cars have plenty of brakes,” he said, adding of the track layout: “The straights are very long and you have to brake hard before the corners. This puts a lot of strain on the rotors and calipers because they take a long time to cool and then get bombarded with a lot of heat.”
Elliott concluded: “So it’s a brake thing, not a quantity thing. It’s just the design of the facility.” These aspects of the track make it more dependent on the riders and more likely that riders who find a relatively better balance than others will perform better.
But the driver of the starting number 9 does not seem to believe that it is possible to find this balance here.
The reporter followed Elliott’s remarks with the most expected question, asking for an expert’s opinion on how to deal with this heat. The Georgia native answered frankly with subtle sarcasm: “That’s right. You just have to get it as hot as you can, then do a lap and hope it doesn’t break.” This means that while brakes may be an issue in the WWTR, they may be an issue in the next generation car, as the route design may be improved. And 2022 Cup Series champion Joey Logano shed some light on the issue.
The next-gen car undoubtedly allowed for better racing on intermediate tracks. But on road courses like WWTR, the racing wasn’t as good.
One of the drivers’ biggest concerns was the loss of power. It turns out that the performance at the Illinois circuit doesn’t actually seem to be that low. In an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Logano said: “One of the really unique things about Gateway is that you downshift twice in turn one, so when you come out of turn two, you have a lot of horsepower.”
Explaining how this translates to better racing, he added: “It’s harder to get your foot on the gas, but it’s more unique than most of the circuits we race on these days where you feel underpowered.
It’s a little harder to get your foot on the pedal and take advantage of all of it. That’s one of the reasons we get good racing here.” Going back to the brake issue raised by Elliott, you might ask yourself if that assessment is based on fact or just speculation. As an expert, one might say that Chase Elliott’s concerns are valid and that some of the design elements of the WWTR present challenges.
A closer look at Gateway Motorsports Park’s design
Gateway Motorsports Park, now known as World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR), is a unique race track that demands a lot from its drivers and teams. The 1.25-mile oval features long straights and sharp corners that place high demands on the braking systems of next-generation cars.
Elliott’s observations highlighted a key issue: cooling. While the brakes stay fairly cool on long straights, applying the brakes hard into a corner quickly generates a lot of heat.
This rapid cooling and warming cycle can reduce brake stability, which can affect how well a driver can control their car during a race. Next-generation cars designed for high performance will have bigger brakes, which in theory should help, but as Elliott pointed out, the unique demands of a track like the WWTR highlight the system’s limitations and areas where improvements are needed.Do you agree with Chase Elliott’s views on the WWTR’s design?
