denver fastest track in the country???? (1 Viewer)

[superman]

i got to thinking tonight could it be possible that denver is the technically the fastest track in the country??? i mean if you think about it the pro stocks that usually run 6.5 or 6.6 in the 1/4 are running 4 tenths slower on the mountain then the bikes usually run 6.8 or 6.9 run 7.2 or 7.3 on the mountain so roughly 3-4 tenths slow then you have a top fuel where they qualify at 3.88 so at sea level would that be a 3.4 or 3.5 pass or with funny car cruz going 4.07 would equal out to a 3.7 or 3.8 just food for thought

 

[twostep]

i got to thinking tonight could it be possible that denver is the technically the fastest track in the country??? i mean if you think about it the pro stocks that usually run 6.5 or 6.6 in the 1/4 are running 4 tenths slower on the mountain then the bikes usually run 6.8 or 6.9 run 7.2 or 7.3 on the mountain so roughly 3-4 tenths slow then you have a top fuel where they qualify at 3.88 so at sea level would that be a 3.4 or 3.5 pass or with funny car cruz going 4.07 would equal out to a 3.7 or 3.8 just food for thought

No. Naturally aspirated engines are affected approximately 4% for every 1000' of elevation, so they're down 25% or so on power....due to a lack of oxygen. They can fiddle with jetting, compression, camshafts, gearing, etc. but the end result is 4-5 tenths slower.

The fuel cars, due to the nature of nitromethane and the fact they're supercharged, aren't affected nearly as much - plus they're allowed unlimited blower OD in Denver. They've run 4.50's at over 330MPH in Denver pre-1000', when sea level times were, under ideal conditions, only a tenth quicker and very little faster. So a 3.88 pass in Denver works out to about a mid-3.70 pass sea level - about what Torrence and Kalitta run on a good day.

 

[Pete]

i got to thinking tonight could it be possible that denver is the technically the fastest track in the country??? i mean if you think about it the pro stocks that usually run 6.5 or 6.6 in the 1/4 are running 4 tenths slower on the mountain then the bikes usually run 6.8 or 6.9 run 7.2 or 7.3 on the mountain so roughly 3-4 tenths slow then you have a top fuel where they qualify at 3.88 so at sea level would that be a 3.4 or 3.5 pass or with funny car cruz going 4.07 would equal out to a 3.7 or 3.8 just food for thought

Very interesting topic Steve. If you looked at raw numbers, then you would have a true statement. However, the amount of changes that are required by all of the teams to run in the thin air is nothing short of amazing, especially by the Pro Stock teams. As mentioned all weekend, the nitro teams can trick the motor into believing its at any altitude by making small to large timing, blower and nitro percentage changes. But, the Pro Stock guys (car and bike) have a much more steep change, which has very little forgiveness if you "miss it". Gearing, shocks and lean that motor out!
This is why you will see PS teams in Denver testing combos prior to heading to the race. The two guys that test there the most...Gaines and AJ....who has been to the finals the last two years? Who has won 5 of 7 previous races? Enough said.

Go outside on a brutally humid day and pay attention to how you breathe. You will notice its much tougher to take quality breaths and the amount of oxygen into your lungs is much much lower, so you will feel "troubled".
Now after you feel "troubled", immediately go for a 1 mile run at a decent pace...if your not used to it you will definitely be hurting and could end up needing medical attention (I did one trip to Denver for similar reasons).

Now take the same exact same scenario as above and add an oxygen mask. If you were used to running miles every day, the oxygen would replace the lack in the air and everything would balance out, with no ill effects.