Angular Velocity in NASCAR

Stock car racing is a very popular sport throughout the world. In the US, NASCAR is the most prominent type of Stock car racing and has fans across the country. One of the largest NASCAR venues in America is the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega County, Alabama. This raceway is known for it’s size as well as its part in Will Ferrell's comedy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. If we wanted to, we are able to quantify the angular velocity of Ricky Bobby’s tires using other values that are measured before and during the race. The average speed on the track is 200 mph (320 km/hr, 89m/s) with each NASCAR vehicle weighing approximately 3300 pounds (1497 kg) plus the weight of the driver (70 kg). Each tire weighs about 25 kg and has a diameter of 28 inches (71.12 cm). Using the speed, weights, and diameter, we are able to calculate the angular velocity of the tires using the energy equation (ΔKE= -ΔPE +WNC).

ΔKE would be equal to ½ mv2 + 4(MR2)w

ΔPE would be equal to zero if we assumed that the car would be traveling at the same height around the track

WNC would be equal to the frictional force which is FFr= FNμ. The normal force is equal to mg and the coefficient of friction is 0.7.

Using these values we can calculate the angular velocity

½ (25kg) (89m/s)2 + 4(25kg)(.3556m)2 w = 1567 kg (9.8m/s2) (0.7)

w= 7027.3 rad/s