Daytona's bankings - the menace and the magic
It’s probably the Daytona International Speedway’s most mythical challenge. Few other circuits on Earth put a car’s build and integrity, as well as a driver’s skill and nerve through such a test. Not to mention a preparers ability to set a car up for the two very different sides of the coin that is the road course paired with the bankings.
Without numerous trips and tests, how does one prepare a car and a driver for the loads that the 31º banking conjures for those daring enough to bury their foot as they brave the harsh transition? The greatest challenge is tackling that which you have little time, tools and facilities to prepare for.
Europeans have on numerous occasions mocked NASCAR out of some deluded perception of its ease. Being here and seeing the scale of it, the commitment that these guys at the HSR Classic 24 consistently demonstrate, it lends perspective and the reality that “just turning left” is a gross underestimation really hits home. Not that we were ill-educated enough to think that in the first place but watching Adrian Newey’s March stutter as the lateral load busts a tyre causing the suspension to buckle has a funny way of galvanising our already respectful sentiments. He followed during a Q&A later in the day "I was going around what I think is called turn four on the Daytona oval and in the middle of the banking I heard a huge bang. The car travelled really sideways and then kind of started bouncing. Basically a tire had gone, and unfortunately in going the tire took the right-rear suspension off...". No joke...
For reference, some of the faster machinery here with more experienced drivers at the wheel might tickle 170mph. The NASCARs and some of the top-level Rolex 24 sportscars aren't “motoring” if not at and beyond the double-tonne.
Of course in some senses, physics is your friend. Take it on - put in the commitment - and you are rewarded with pace, as the faster you go the harder you’re pushed into the road by the centrifugal forces. Keep in mind though that the effects of your steering inputs are magnified when you’re hunkered in. Left hand down by a millimetre could see you careering into a lower lane where you might find a car or some unwanted loss of stability.
Speaking to some seasoned Daytona attendees: “We have guys come here that want to go fast. They talk all the talk and then on the way out of bus stop, take a line like they’re pitting. They flat-out refuse to go up there”.
We take the banking for what it is: one of America’s great motor racing challenges. It’s not traditionally technical but it will wield raw physics against all who traverse it at speed. Use that to your advantage and you’ve mastered it. Don’t the cars somehow look even more incredible up there, too?
Photography by Chuck Andersen
HSR
Daytona
Classic 24
Classic 24 at Daytona
Historic Sportscar Racing
