NASCAR's Forgotten Traction Control Controversy

okay let's cut to the chase drivers and teams all throughout NASCAR are always looking to gain an edge on the competitors whether it's spending more money in the R&D department or finding a way to work around the rules teams are going to find a way to get the upper hand and throughout early 2002 rumors were running rampant stating that teams had trashed control systems obviously traction control is highly illegal in NASCAR surprisingly this doesn't get brought up that often hell I only found out when I was looking up blogs on racing-reference credit to NASCAR man by the way he writes some quality stories and I would highly recommend checking him out but anyway kick back relax and grab a snack as I go over NASCAR's forgotten trash control controversy [Music] [Music] [Music] to start I'll give a quick rundown on what traction control is traction control is designed to minimize wheel slip when the power is applied you can pretty much find it on nearly every production vehicle nowadays you can also find it being used in MotoGP and sports car racing such as EMSA and WEC in NASCAR though it's highly illegal and understandably so NASCAR prides itself on simplistic cars with more focused on driver skill than engineering expertise it would definitely take away from claims that NASCAR has the best drivers in the world if they came out that teams were using drivers aids such as traction control the traction control rumors started in the late 1990s continuing into mm NASCAR would claim that it would be impossible to get past officials and would be easy to find however the ones who worked on the cars stated that there were plenty of ways for traction control to go undetected with that being said that brings us to the question of how trash control could be installed some say you needed a computer chip that could be plugged in the ignition box and drivers could plug them in before the race and take them out after the race before discarding them another method would be for it to be wired directly into the ignition box with any wires being covered easily by simply painting over them or covering them with decals along with there being ways for trash control to go undetected in expection personalities all across NASCAR reveal that there were few ways the charge control could be noticed on track apparently if an engine or tachometer hesitated instead of a steady increase in rpm they may have exposed the traction control probably the biggest giveaway would be if a driver couldn't get the wheels to spin when attempting to burn out probably not too many excuses could be given after that now as I'm saying this you're probably wondering what this leads to I can tell you about how Josh control works and how it can hypothetically be hidden but still they're just rumors right well yes there were technically just rumors however the rumors had spread to the point where NASCAR had to address them so that's what they did in the driver's meeting before the 2002 Virginia 500 at Martin's Oh NASCAR president Mike Hilton stood in front of the room holding to trash control devices Helton would go on to say everybody I think understands our rules and regulations in regards to trash control in an effort to police that we have spent a lot of time and money buying parts and pieces you've been offered so we can figure out what to look for Helton would then state that while there wasn't much they could do to the people who manufacture these parts it'll be the drivers and crew chief they would react to if or when they find them in a car to keep teens from replacing wires in the ignition box NASCAR officials begin sealing the ignition wiring to prevent tampering but like I mentioned before there would still be other ways to make trash control go undetected despite NASCAR's attempt to eliminate the installation of trash control and emission boxes Richard Childress felt certain that his teams had been beaten by others who were using trash control with the trash control rumors still looming NASCAR gathered media members for a press conference the day of the 2002 Pepsi 400 according to NASCAR this press conference was to simply inform the media and clear the air they went on to say that during the week they pretended like they recruit Chiefs and car owners searching out opportunities to try and stay ahead of the game they admitted they were looking they hadn't said it was impossible but they hadn't found any experts who would tell them that you can install trash control without wiring it it into the car they also stated that they had taken a micro phonics listening device that measures sound in a range that humans don't hear trying to find possible hesitations in engines a media member would ask the question of how big of a hammer they would be holding over someone who might get caught with trash control after a brief explanation of how they didn't have a predetermined sanction Cup series director John Darby stated that it would probably be one of the largest penalties that NASCAR had ever letty an unnamed Busch Series champion would speak without Pearce in an article for Auto week the unnamed champion would say that NASCAR couldn't find trash control if they hit him in the face crew chief Mike Hillman would say that he didn't know if the officials could even find it but on the chance that they stumbled across it the punishment would be big and because of that and because nobody knows for sure if they could find it he didn't think anybody was using it in the same Auto week article they included a number of race wins that could have been aided by trash control the wins included Bobby Hamilton's Martinsville win in 1998 Joe Nemechek swin at Rockingham in 2001 Kurt Busch's first win at Bristol and Jimmie Johnson's first win at Fontana in 2002 when Tony Stewart lifted up the Winston Cup championship as the 2002 season ended the rumors continued into 2003 Todd Bodine would state that there were up to 16 cars that had Josh control car owner Jim Smith would claim that Church control could be activated through a computer chip by using a cell phone Smith would also stay - this method was everywhere in the Craftsman Truck Series at the time some of you right now are probably thinking I mean sure it's possible but is there any potential proof of traction control and NASCAR is there anything other than rumor and innuendo well there is one that plenty of people think is a dead giveaway of trash control at the 2003 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Jeff Gordon led the final 36 laps in route to his third win of the season when he attempted to do a burnout the rear wheel spun before locking up as if something was preventing the tires from spinning NASCAR looked closely in the ignition system in post-race inspection they then took the rear end back to their R&D center where nothing illegal was found contrary to no rules changes between 2002 and 2003 NASCAR made changes to the rulebook for the 2004 season to crack down further on potential use of trash control the ignition boxes were required to be placed on the dashboard where they still are today with the new rules in place the traction control groomers ended today NASCAR still holds descent towards driver aids such as trash control with the current penalty structure any use of trash control is a level two penalty the most severe nobody has ever been caught with trash control despite the many rumors that have come and gone throughout the years and that pretty much covers it I hope you all have enjoyed this telling of this forgotten controversy huge shout out to NASCAR man on racing reference for allowing me to discover this through a series of blogs titled historical motorsport stories once again highly recommend checking them out and with that I'll end it here I'm Jesse King thanks for watching and I'll see y'all around [Music]

Channel: Jesse King

Views: 245,719

Rating: 4.7662416 out of 5

Keywords: #NASCAR #Controversy

Id: yySgKv5pZg0

Length: 8min 10sec (490 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 26 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/lt12765]

I don't recall much of this at the time (my high school part time job was cutting into my Nascar time in 03) but I will say that the 24 team has been the focus of a lot of shit over the years. This was actually during a few of the 24's more average years too in 02 and 03 (if you can call 2 x 4th place points finishes average), which is weird that it wasn't accused in for example 01 or 04 when they led like every week. Jeff was still in his prime in those years, but wow could he ever not do a burnout.

[u/Turbo-GeoMetro]

Good vintage discussion.

I hope it gains traction here.

[u/[deleted]]

Jimmie Johnson was a target of this from 06-09. "Chip in the glove" that never got caught..... And like when Brad had his cellphone in the car. Using apps through the electronics to gain more control. BOTH were never verified, just talk among the garage.

[u/[deleted]]

Didn’t know this was forgotten, tbh

[u/sonicjetjoe]

Dunno if OP is Jesse King but I would feel a lot better if they got permission from the sole source, nascarman, before making a video.