Winston Cup Shock Programs

At the Winston Cup level, shock development programs have become one of the more lucrative areas to find performance gains. Shock absorbers and their behavior are crucial every step of the way—from qualifying to the checkered flag. After all, the shock is essentially the main control unit for the entire suspension. That’s why most Winston Cup teams have a department that specializes in shocks. All week long this department tests, prepares, and refines shocks for races throughout the season. And the experimentation doesn’t stop at the shop; a wide variety of shock combinations are put on the car every race week for practice, qualifying, happy hour, and race day.

Shock absorbers represent a new frontier for the teams. Even the smallest improvement can be the difference between sitting on the pole and starting midpack (or starting midpack instead of rolling the dice in second-round qualifying.) It can be the difference between a car that runs great everywhere and a car that only likes one groove.

Given the high level of competition and spending, complacency is not an option. Teams must blaze new territory or get left behind. The topic becomes complex, as factors such as the tires, the driver’s style, the track surface, temperature, aerodynamics, and the angles of the suspension components all come into play. We talked to Brian Lunniss, a shock technician at Joe Gibbs Racing, to get the inside scoop on how a Winston Cup shock program operates. Working alongside Ronnie Crooks, Lunniss builds and develops shocks for Bobby Labonte’s #18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac and Tony Stewart’s #20 Home Depot Pontiac. This two-person department is responsible for developing and building thousands of customized shocks a year. The team uses Penske and Ohlins Racing shocks. Usually, the shocks used are monotube, gas-charged, low-pressure shocks with one adjustor built into them.

Back at the Shop

A typical week for Lunniss and Crooks consists of many hours in the shop. On Mondays, when the car has returned from the track, they run the shocks on the shock dyno and carefully document any discrepancies in performance. Later in the day, they build shocks for qualifying in next week’s race. Most of Tuesday and Wednesday is spent building shocks as well. Lunniss and Crooks take about 40 or 50 to the track for each car. Due to Winston Cup rules, which only allow a shock to have one adjustable feature built into it, the shock technicians have to anticipate what shocks to build. Being prepared for whatever the crew chief wants—in this case, it’s either Jimmy Makar (#18) or Greg Zipadelli (#20)—is a big aspect of their job. Thursdays consist of getting the hauler packed and conducting developmental testing. That’s the most secretive aspect of the entire shock program. Thursday ends with travel to the next venue.

At the Track

The hauler is home to a mobile shock workshop filled with all the crucial tools for building, storing, and testing shocks. It houses a shock dyno and all the pistons, valves, gas, oil, and tools needed to build new units. The technicians have already built an arsenal of shocks for the weekend, but new tire compounds, weather, fine tuning, and a myriad of other factors often require new shocks to be built.

The short tracks on the Winston Cup circuit demand a high level of shock tuning. That’s where Lunniss says the shock department gets its biggest workouts. Tracks like Bristol, Martinsville, and others require high levels of acceleration, deceleration, and cornering g-forces, so the shocks must work harder to keep the wheels planted firmly on the ground. The higher demands of short tracks mean the shock technicians must out-engineer the other teams.

At all the tracks, the pace of the weekend is determined by how well the car performs fresh off the trailer. On Friday during the first practice session, the shock technicians find out if they made the right shocks.

“What happens is, there are variances in cars, surfaces, tires, and weather. All those things come into play,” says Lunniss. “You end up having to chase those variables. So basically, you’re going on what you had there before and then modifying it. There’s always the chance that all the shocks that were built ahead of time are useless because one of those many variables caused a drastic change in the setup.”

Fridays typically require a lot of setup before practice. Much of the emphasis is on tuning for first round qualifying. The shocks used for qualifying and the ones used for racing are often very different. Typically, the qualifying shocks can be characterized simply as “more aggressive.”

Friday concludes with first round qualifying, and changes are made as necessary. The focus then shifts to the race setup. If first round qualifying goes bad, then the focus shifts to making the changes necessary to get in during second round qualifying.

Saturday can be a hectic day for the shock technicians. It’s their last chance to get things right for Sunday, while taking into consideration how the weather might change. If the car has handled poorly from the beginning, they may have already tried 20 different shock combinations to make it handle. This is the day that they find out if the development ideas worked. The day largely consists of building, adapting, and examining shocks while getting feedback and requests from the crew chief. Happy hour, the last practice session before the race, can be hectic for the shock guys. By the end of the day on Saturday, the shock technicians’ work is largely done since there are no more practice sessions left. On Sunday they stay on call to handle anything unexpected that may occur during the race. By 8 a.m. Monday, the process begins again.