Eli5: Why do race cars go high on straightaways and low on turns

Question

Eli5: Why do race cars go high on straightaways and low on turns

In: 1

Answer 1

Are you talking about their position on the racetrack?

If you are, then what they are doing is taking the best possible route through a corner.

They start on what would be the “outside” of the upcoming corner, turn in and go to the lowest or “inside” part of the corner, and then go back to the “outside” of the next straight.

Outside -> Inside -> Outside

This is called the racing line. It is the theoretical fastest way through a corner. It opens up the radius of the corner to be as straight as possible so the cars can carry as much speed as possible. Cars can go faster when straighter than they can when turning.