I’ve seen Nascar crashes where a car going 180 goes sideways into a wall, and then gets t-boned by other cars that were also going 180 mph and yet no rollover and the cars barely look damaged and everyone walks away unscathed. Meanwhile normal passenger cars go sideways doing 50mph and they roll over 6 times, gets demolished, and kills the driver. What is it about Nascar cars that make them so crash resistant/resilient?
In: Engineering
NASCAR walls look like they’re solid, but they’re actually SAFER barriers. This is a steel layer (like Armco) which can bend under stress. Then a layer of foam blocks before the solid. They then use a roll cage, which resists deformation under impact. That transfers the impact to the driver. Those impacts are absorbed by head-and-neck support which wraps around a drivers head and limits their vision to prevent whiplash or other neck injuries, along with other seat padding to absorb impact.
Nascars also dedicate lots of space inside the car to crumple zones, which normal car would use for passengers or cargo.
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