asphalt racing question

[mac70]

why is it that after qualifiying cars are impounded and you cannot work on them or you start at the back?

[Truck99]

why is it that after qualifiying cars are impounded and you cannot work on them or you start at the back?

 

The thought behind it is to lower expenses by preventing teams with the means from running separate setups for qualifying and the race. Sometimes teams will change drivetrain fluids, shocks, tires, brake pads, and other similar things if allowed to in order to burn off the quickest lap possible in qualifying. They then switch back to the equipment that will last an entire race before the feature event. How much of this is really going on in each of the series is that hard thing to judge.

[1-Crew]

The simple answer is that there are several things you might do to pop off a quick lap for qualifying that would not be as beneficial during the race. As a few examples, a team might soak a set of tires for qualifying to get them real soft. Those same tires would not last ten laps during the race so impounding the car prevents the tires from being swapped. The same might be true for doctored fuel. There are oxygenated compounds that can be added to fuel to give a horsepower boost. Often these compounds are extremely volatile and evaporate quickly. This might cause mixture problems if the racer has jetted to take advantage of the extra oxygen and the oxygen containing component goes away..

[jwmbishop]

Because... thats what it says in the rule book.

[Pacecar]

Another reason is based upon the rule that the car must weigh a certain minimum after qualifying, and after the race. Typically, 40 pounds of fuel is burned in the race. So the car is setup to be 40 to 50 pounds over its minimum at the start of the race. If the cars are impounded, then the car is qualified as 50 pounds overweight.

For no impound, one could remove lead weight or fuel load just for qualifying.

Reduces the "workload" to get that better qualifying lap.

And if the car is impounded, then the driver and crew has nothing better to do, but to watch the other races.