Nelson says there are anywhere from 18-20 projects currently under way at the facility, most of which have something to do with the Car of Tomorrow project, aimed at implementing all the gains the facility generates in its various efforts. "It actually started off as the Car of the Future, but now it's the Car of Tomorrow, so I guess the future is here now," Nelson chuckled. "It started out as a five-year plan and we're moving along pretty well."
Primary among the changes on the Car of Tomorrow is the expansion of the "greenhouse." The windows on both sides have been enlarged by 4 inches in width and 2 inches in height to aid driver ingress/egress. The cockpit has been moved 4.5 inches to the right to get it more toward the center of the car, and an escape hatch system is in place through the roof. The addition of some 2 inches of sheetmetal on the rear quarter-panels should help prevent cars from getting up underneath each other and lifting the rear wheels, and it should help prevent other cosmetic changes. When a suitable bumper/crushable material is found, it will be implemented on this car, as well.
Overall, the facility is very impressive from a technical standpoint, and it should stand NASCAR in good stead in the coming years as emerging technologies are examined and admitted.
We sat down with Nelson to discuss the center, its impact on both safety and the community, and how NASCAR is continuing its commitment to safety in the country's most visible and popular racing series.
Q&A with Gary NelsonSCR: In the two years the NASCAR R&D Center has been open, has it fulfilled its function?
Nelson: It has exceeded my expectations, by far. When you start a new program, you talk about two people here and one person there, and we had about 15 people total. In this building, in our mind, when we walked in, we were like, "Man, this place is so big. We're going to have a lot of empty desks for a long time." Now, we're into the mid-40s in staff, and I have been very surprised at the rapid growth. But then I look back at what caused that, and it's the fact that we are producing more and more results. I constantly remind myself that we have a long way to go and we have to work hard every day to continue to work toward our goals. Every once in a while, I'll look back at how far we've come, and it's pretty exciting.
SCR: What is, in your mind, the prime directive of the NASCAR R&D Center?
Nelson: I've been in racing my whole career-from crewmember to crewchief to series director and now vice president of research and development-and throughout that period of time, I have crossed paths with a lot of racers for whom I hold a lot of respect both personally and professionally. Some of those folks aren't with us anymore. What drives me every day, what gets me going, is trying to make a contribution to make the sport safer for those reasons. I still have a lot of personal and professional friends in the business. I think of myself as one person who has crossed paths with a lot of racers, but everybody in racing has that. Everyone on the track or on the pit crew has this network of relatives, friends, fans, and I think safety is a way to make things better for everyone. Nobody loses in that effort.