Race Car Brake Development for NASCAR

Chrysler Brake Engineering was directed to produce brake systems to enable stock cars to be repeatedly braked from speeds of 150 mph every few minutes lap after lap. With better brakes a driver could drive deeper into the turns before backing off, picking up valuable split seconds. Initial investigation soon revealed that no one was doing an adequate job of providing good brakes. Drivers and car managers were doing the best they could but generally this consisted of looking over each others shoulders and copying the latest fad. This paper covers the development of the Delta drum brake and investigation into copper and cast iron disc brakes.