Here’s Why The Nascar Camaros’ Exhaust Glowed Red At Daytona
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As the sun went down behind the grandstands at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that the exhausts some of the Nascar Next Gen race cars glowed bright red.
The effect appeared to be most prominent on the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 machines. At first, it seemed that the coloring was simply paint. In particular, some commentators announcing the Duel qualifying races noted that the No. 50 Camaro of Kaz Grala appeared to have exhaust ports colored pink to match his multicolor livery. However, as the race wore on, other race cars – such as the No. 9 Camaro of Chase Elliott and the No. 5 Camaro of Kyle Larson – exhibited the same exhaust port glow.
GM Authority Executive Editor, Alex Luft, spoke to Chevrolet Motorsports representatives at the Daytona 500 qualifying races to find out more.
“The orange color is due to the heat from the exhaust system causing the material to ‘glow’ in the visible light spectrum,” they said. “Sporadically, ‘fire’ will be expelled from the exhaust outlet due to unburned fuel igniting in the exhaust system. Normally fuel is ignited in the combustion chamber but under certain circumstances, unburned fuel will escape the combustion chamber and will ignite when making contact with the hot exhaust piping.”
Originally, the exhaust vents were routed to the rear of the NASCAR Next Gen Camaro, as seen here.
The eye-catching exhaust glow in the Nascar Next Gen car could be attributed to changes made to the exhaust paths during its development. Initial tests of the all-new race car demonstrated a concerning amount of heat buildup in the driver’s cockpit, so changes were made to address the issue. One of the updates involved shortening the exhaust pipes so they exit behind the front wheels instead of in front of the rear wheels as originally designed. This alteration minimizes exhaust heat in the floorboards and has helped keep the interiors cool during racing conditions.
Note the exhaust ports have since been moved forward.
It’s not clear why the Chevy Camaros’ exhaust glowed more noticeably than the Ford Mustangs and Toyota Camrys in the field at Daytona, but it will certainly be interesting to keep an eye on the effect as the Nascar season continues.
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I think you answered it already…
Shorter pipe to keep less heat from entering cabin. That heat is going somewhere.
That heat is wasted energy going out to the environment . That is over 40% of gasoline energy lost. No ICE can be over 60% efficient . This is why electrics are better. They are 90% efficient .
If you want to look at it that way, any amount of time running a race car is a waste of energy, regardless of ICE or battery.
Electrics are also 100% boring
Another half-wit EV fan-boy ignoring the futility of EV’s and the upstream cost and daily energy expenditures of building and then powering them. Prattle on ! I’m sure your Lobbyist is paying you per posting….or is it Mary B. ?
Idiot. Oh, I forgot, electricity grows on trees…
We could also talk about how the energy and fossil fuels required to manufacture an electric cars battery outweighs the energy saved by owning an electric car. You’re not ready for that conversation though, are you? Also considering that 80% of the power used to charge electric cars comes from non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels.
Really… Electric Race Cars!… Probably will have to happen someday with the Nascar Series because of the push for the supposably so called Green Energy agenda by the Biden Administration! So you are concerned about polluting the environment via the Nascar Series? Where do you think the Green Energy is going to come from? Well…News Flash…The Wind Powered Green Energy is now coming via Wind Farms across the USA for a very small amount, however there is also the so called Green Energy Electric Power being produced via Fossil Fuels such as Diesel Fuel and Natural Gas Supply that is happening right now! So, give it a little more thought, the environment will still continue to be, as you say polluted, via Fossil Fuels now and into the foreseeable future! So, again Nascar eventually racing via Electric… Possibly, but the Race Cars will still be polluting remotely from a Fossil Fuel Source producing the so called Green Energy! Think about it!
Ray Ray….lost in the BS of Electrification.
We already have 70% gas engines…. gas turbines with combined recovery cycles. 60% efficient piston engines are coming. 40% is maximum efficiency of an Otto cycle only. Atkinson cycles can go as high as 60%, and with exhaust heat recovery 80% efficiency is possible. If you want to dump a ton of money into an engine, I can have you one ready by next week.
EV’s on the other hand can’t reach that efficiency. Most eletric motors are only 80% efficient, and for some, that’s even a stretch. Batteries are also only 80% efficient so your max efficiency for a BEV is only 64%……. yea, add that you lose another 10% from line/transformer losses and that comes from a 70% efficient gas turbine, you back down to or even under 40% efficient.
FYI, I used 80% electric engine efficiency as high efficiency motors for industrial use…. the ones that are the size of EV motors and are 90% efficient only put out 15HP. Not enough to cruise a 6000lb vehicle. EV’s sacrifice efficiency for weight savings
The same electricity that is produced by the coal burning power plant??
No true. Ask any engineer on the problems of electric. They are a two-phase system, meaning energy input has to be produced, delivered and stored, then delivered from the battery for output. An ICE engine is single phase. Total energy efficiency for an ICE engine is about 21%. For an electric car it is about 9-10%.
Tailpipe emissions in the form of carbon monoxide are eliminated, but are produced through electricity production unless it’s from non-carbon producing energy sources.
Do the research yourself. Car & Driver covered this topic years ago.
Maybe the red was embarrassment.
I noticed the glow in the pipes before broadcasting picked it up. Being at the duels, with the southeast wind blowing, I also noticed the air temperature rise each time a pack of cars went by.
Oh my. First it was mentioned air pollution and now we need to include temperature rise (global warming)! Oh wait. How much heat do the electric motors emit? This is all just getting to be to much for a retired engineer wanted to be burdened with. I just want to enjoy a great ICE stock car race and associated sound.
Chevrolet dominated nascar last year. Everytime GM dominates, Nascar has to make a change. Penske the crook has more $ than any other owner and owns at least 2 or 3 of the tracks . Hence its no surprise that the Fords are dominant right off of jump street with the new car , wheel height and engine combo. The reason the Camaro pipes glow more is because as always the Chevrolets are behind the curve on the chassis set up therefore having to lift longer in the corners than the other competitors. simple as that.
ITS FUNNY TO READ THESE LETTERS. PEOPLE THINK THAT GM OR FORD OR TOYOTA HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THESE ENGINES OR THE BODY OR WHAT EVER. GET A REAL FOLKS.
except they do…
Bueno, bueno…yo no soy muy fanático de esa rama de competencias de circuito (como ratón en un carrusel). Pero en verdad me divertí muchísimo más con los argumentos en los comentarios (no tengo porque mentir).
Pero si usted me pregunta, por razón obvia, (nacido 1975) diría, que todo en la vida tiene sentido dependiendo de quién es la persona que lo razoné, y si entiendo que hay qué, definitivamente, proteger nuestro planeta (pues no hay opciones de supervivencia actual en cualquier otro planeta, o eso “dicen”) pero, los convocó a qué sigando matandse, paro yo poder reír por más momentos en la lectura. Saludos, al personal de esta revista, tanto como a los Titanes que se desenvuelven en éste campo de batalla. MOPAR FANATIC FOR LIFE.
How about the fact that it takes seven acres of ground to provide enough lithium to make the batteries to power your EV. 7 acres ruined. Shame! Shame! Shame!
Roundy rounders r a dying breed. When nascar made them into spec racecars their death sentence was written. Toyota running an engine not available in any vehicle they sell ????? WAS UP with that?
Well, When Nascar came about years ago, there were no Cookie Cutter Race Cars then. It was strictly what team could get an edge over the other teams via changes, improvements, better engines,etc. (that also were not available to the general public via purchasing a vehicle from a Dealer of your choice) Unless modified by the individual consumer. That’s when racing via Nascar or your Friday, Saturday Night Dirt Track object was to get your Race Car to run and perform better and get the upper hand to give the Driver, Car and Put Crew win a race because they came up with a Race Car that would outperform the competition! Nobody gave a hoot whether the engine was available to themselves or anyone else! That’s Hardcore Competition Racing. That everyone was real down to earth racing! 👍
And that first Toyota nascar engine was not even an in-house design, as they bought the rights to it from Dodge. And I’m trying to remember the last time I saw a two-door Camry. I think it’s safe to say that Toyota bought their way into nascar
I’ve been following NASCAR since the 60’s. When they were basically stock cars with minimal modifications. Today’s tube frame cars are just as much a funny car as the NHRA funny cars! Even with the new composite bodies. I laughed when the commentators said they are now more like factory cars! What a joke! There’s not a single nut or bolt that is used in production cars or trucks! Just a bunch of Demolition Derby cars now.
Unburned fuel in the exhaust pipes tells me the Chevy engine is less efficient and thus gets worst fuel mileage than the Fords and Toyotas. Is this a lesson to be learned for Chevy engineers?
That’s why it’s called Racing! Try to get the upper edge of the competition! No Race of Champions…Cookie Cutter Race Cars…The Best Divers in Nascar Racing! Get’r Done Drivers! 👍
Bueno, bueno…yo no soy muy fanático de esa rama de competencias de circuito (como ratón en un carrusel). Pero en verdad me divertí muchísimo más con los argumentos en los comentarios (no tengo porque mentir).
Pero si usted me pregunta, por razón obvia, (nacido 1975) diría, que todo en la vida tiene sentido dependiendo de quién es la persona que lo razoné, y si entiendo que hay qué, definitivamente, proteger nuestro planeta (pues no hay opciones de supervivencia actual en cualquier otro planeta, o eso “dicen”) pero, los convocó a qué sigando matandse, paro yo poder reír por más momentos en la lectura. Saludos, al personal de esta revista, tanto como a los Titanes que se desenvuelven en éste campo de batalla. MOPAR FANATIC FOR LIFE.
Want to post in Dutch? Or how about the language of the USA , English?
Your love of your poolboy is off conversation anyway.
Interesting. Blocked after my post.
See ya, sad that you are so anti-American.
Have you tried learning a second language? Most other countries teach a second language, especially in Europe.
J’ai écrit en français pour t’embêter.
Of course we don’t have an official language.
mrcheesebuger40
My maternal grandmother immigrated from Poland. My maternal grandfather immigrated from Belarus. Both learned the English language and lived a happy successful life in America. Please learn English. Free courses are available in your community. Contact your local Community College.
BTW: Their son, my uncle Walter RIP, was the chief pattern maker at Ford’s Cleveland, Ohio castings plant when they were producing gray iron castings. He did the initial pattern and working pattern for the 351 Cleveland engine.
Wow, great story, but if your grandmother can learn a second language, so could you.
Toda la tecnología a nuestro alcance, pero a algunas personas les da pereza usar un traductor.
Consider exhaust pipe diameter and exhaust pipe materials. What are Ford and Toyota using for pipe material and their diameter.
Glowing red pipe is not good. Something amiss. Caterpillar now has water cooled turbocharger housings.
Wouldn’t even waste my time watching an ev race