Dodge Still Seeking Aero Advantage

Dodge has so far achieved only 80 to 90 percent of the aerodynamic potential of its new Intrepid Winston Cup race car, leading engineers from the company admit.

The team is engaged on a season-long struggle to create a more slippery shape and find more downforce, says Michael Cipponeri, manager of the factory’s motorsports laboratories.

"We’re really happy with our aerodynamic package. We’re where we wanted to be at this stage of the season," he confirmed.

"However, we are only at about 80 to 90 percent of where we want to get to. We’re constantly going into the wind tunnel to do some tweaks."

Dodge’s out-of-the-trailer car was fast enough for Sterling Marlin to win one of Daytona’s twin 125-milers in the Intrepid’s race debut in February. But Winston Cup racing is so competitive that engineers can never rest.

"We’re using some of the most advanced tooling," confirms Tim Culbertson, manager of Dodge’s Winston Cup engineering program. "We use CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics - which allows us to create a wind tunnel in the computer. It tends to be a more mathematical approach, where the wind tunnel is more cut and try."

The wind tunnels are still invaluable, however, and Dodge uses two: its own 3/8-scale housing in Michigan, and the Lockheed Corporation’s full-size version in Atlanta, Georgia.

Despite all these facilities, Culbertson admits that aerodynamics is still "more of an art than science".

What complicates matters is the 30-ish NASCAR templates that bodies have to comply with, and the different body variations required for the varying tracks on the Winston Cup calendar. Dodge builds six body styles, says Culbertson: Speedway, Short Track, Long Short Track, Short Long Track, Cement Car (for the Bristol and Dover ovals) and Road Course.

"The body shape changes slightly for each type of track. The changes are so subtle that the average fan can’t tell the difference between some of them, and even the engineers can’t," he explains.

"At Daytona we want a low-drag body, at Martinsville we want downforce, and at a track like Las Vegas we need a compromise."

When Dodge tallies up its successes at season’s end, Cipponeri and Culbertson will know whether they’ve won the battle of art and science.