One could purchase a Camry from a Toyota showroom and pretend like they’re driving the car that NASCAR superstar Denny Hamlin drives in a top-level racing series. But needless to say, those two Toyotas are miles apart. A custom-built stock car meant for the Cup Series is obviously very different in both its look and feel than an ordinary road car. One thing that differs between these two cars is the RPM gauge.
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As far as the Xfinity cars are concerned, there are two different colors of tapes on the RPM gauge. Red is the speed limit in first gear, yellow is the speed limit in second gear. Hence, one would need to accelerate to the red line, shift to second gear, and then accelerate to the yellow line.
But how does that work in the Cup Series where they don’t even have a speedometer to look at?
Although it sounds complex, it is surprisingly simple. In an episode of his famous podcast, two-time Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained, “We don’t have a speedometer, we really don’t have a tachometer anymore. I have lights on the dash and they start green, then they turn yellow. There’s basically four green lights, two yellow lights, two orange lights, and then red lights, and they all kind of light up just like a RPM bar would.”
The deal is simple. If one drives down pit road and sees just green lights, they are going too slow. If they see two yellow lights, they are within the speed limit or barely about to break the speed limit.
“So two yellow lights should be safe. When we have a pit road that has a bend in it, you run two orange lights and that should be safe. Anytime you see any red lights, you’re speeding. That’s it. That’s as simple as it is,” Junior added.
How else do NASCAR stock cars differ from regular road cars?
While the lack of a speedometer is a major difference between a stock car and a road car, there are several other differences between the two. And the biggest of them is in the engine. Sure, the engines of both cars look similar, but the one inside the chassis of a stock car is custom-built to generate a power of 800 HP or more. This means the V8 engine of a stock car is more or less four times as powerful as that of a normal car.
Another difference is in the design of its body. NASCAR cars are designed to run in high-intensity racing conditions and also to absorb the impacts of gruesome crashes. Moreover, there is a notable difference in the way the camshaft works in the NASCAR machines from how it happens in road cars. For stock cars, the camshafts open the valves at higher speeds, facilitating better airflow and thus, an enhanced performance of the engine.
Besides all of that, even the tires are different. NASCAR tires are prone to wear and tear and, therefore, are made using materials that are approved by the governing body. The tires on stock cars are wider and softer with no treads on them. This gives the cars more grip on the track and the drivers, lesser chances of overdriving.
