Motorsports

The Racing Page

By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer
Published October 20, 2007

Inducted

Land O'Lakes drag racer Matt Scranton was in California this weekend as the Sport Compact he made the first to exceed 200 mph in NHRA competition was readied for induction into the sport's Hall of Fame.

Scranton, 36, reached 202 mph in May of 2002 at Englishtown, N.J., in a 1,750-hp, v8 Tundra-powered Toyota Celica. It was also the first among "foreign" manufacturers to exceed that speed barrier in a quarter-mile.

"My bother (and crew chief, Jay) and I started racing in '95 and we had basically nothing," said Scranton, who is nominated for NHRA rookie of the year in his first season in Pro Stock. "There wasn't a money tree anywhere. We learned the hard way. We built everything we couldn't afford to buy. It's cool that's going to be there for us to be able to take the kids to see."

The car remained in the Scranton shop for nearly two years before their California-based sponsor requested it for display in its show room, then donated it to the museum.

Dan says

We've enlisted St. Petersburg resident and former Indy Racing League champion Dan Wheldon as our informal fourth Dancing With the Stars judge, just to provide us with an extra critique. Dan has been known to get down, get down, get down, get down, every now and again. "I would give Helio (Castroneves) a 9 this week. He put on another great performance. He seems closer with his dance partner of a couple months than he is with his own teammate of three years!"

Heady company

Jeff Gordon continues a historic season. With six wins he has passed the late Dale Earnhardt for sixth all time. With five races left, he is two wins shy of Cale Yarborough. And the points leader is vying for a fifth title. Only Richard Petty and Earnahardt (seven) have more.

Total wins

200

Richard Petty

105

David Pearson

85

Bobby Allison

84

Darrell Waltrip

83

Cale Yarborough

81

Jeff Gordon

Quotable

"I think they've tried to make the championship headlines every week. I think for the most part, from our side as racers, you do the best you can and wherever it ends up, it ends up. The sad part is that if you're not in the top 10 last year or top 12 this year ... for the last 10 races you might as well not exist."

Former champion and part-time Nextel Cup driver Bill Elliott, on the plight of non-Chase for the Championship qualifiers

"There's no doubt I'm here in 2008 and even beyond that. I have a 90 percent feeling that I'm going to be back here."

Greg Biffle on his future with Roush Fenway Racing

Tech talk

The Indy Racing League will debut paddle shifting full time and variable ratio steering for street/road courses in 2008, which includes the April 6 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. A synopsis, courtesy of the IRL engineering department:

Variable ratiosteering rack

Previous system: Standard rack, which is a metal bar with a series of evenly spaced teeth that links to the front wheels. A pinion controlled by the driver turning the steering wheel catches on the teeth of the steering rack, causing the wheels to turn in the corresponding direction based on the load and movement of the driver.

New system: The variable ratio steering rack mechanism is similar, but the pitch of the teeth on the steering rack change. Also, the teeth are not spaced evenly; they are closer together toward both ends of the steering rack. The pinion is also a different shape. These slight changes allow the pinion to catch on the teeth easier to turn the wheels, diminishing the amount of effort needed by the driver to turn the steering wheel.

Paddle shift system

Previous system: Six-speed sequential shift gearbox.

New system: A pneumatic (air-assisted) gearshift system that eliminates the need for drivers to remove their right hand from the wheel to shift. Paddles are on the back of the wheel, with the right paddle moving up gears and the left moving down gears.

The paddle shift system has its own control unit in sync with the engine, so it knows what gear the driver is in, engine RPMs and speed. Because of this, a driver cannot change gears unless all parameters are right.

Benefits include the prevention of missed gears and shifting too early. It also helps the driver have better control; drivers won't have to take one hand off the wheel to shift. Also, removing the gearshift in the cockpit improves driver safety in a crash.

[Last modified October 19, 2007, 23:27:44]