The Speed Of Light
Smaller Is Better In The World Of Racing
Auto racing has changed. Technology and innovation have resulted in racing cars with performance envelopes that are closer to those of jet fighters than they are to ordinary automobiles. Space-age materials and sophisticated on-board electronics and telemetry bring the flight analogy even closer to home. Racing has also changed from a pastime, practiced by well-heeled sportsmen to a business practiced by huge multinational corporations. Racers still climb into cockpits, cinch down their seatbelts, screw up their courage and go racing, but the drivers that do so today are mere shadows of the men who did so in the olden days of racing. They aren't any less brave or intense; what they are is much smaller.
Although the world of television has a way of making its stars look bigger than life, walk around the paddock of any major race in any part of the world, and you are immediately struck by how small the drivers are. The stars of Formula One barely come to the shoulders of the average super-sized American male. Oval track and road racers that practice on the American circuits aren't much bigger, typically someplace around 5 ft 7 in. and weighing less than 150 lb. Even the new generation of heroes of NASCAR, a program that pointedly celebrates its beer belly and apple-pie roots, is filled with guys who look more like jockeys than good old boys.
Why is it that drivers have gotten so much smaller? In a word? Performance. Racing has become incredibly competitive, and each team is always looking for any minute improvement in the entire package. The cars have become so strong, robust and reliable, that it is the human being that has become the weakest link. While an engine may lose 5% of its performance during a race, drivers, through fatigue and dehydration, may lose as much as 20% of their performance edge over the course of several hours in a race. As Roger Penske is reported to have said, "The rules still say that you have to have a driver in the car, so you may as well get the best one that you can." But what gives a smaller driver an advantage?
If it were simply a matter of weight, it shouldn't make much difference if your driver is the size of a sumo wrestler. Racing organizations generally require the car to meet a minimum weight, often with the driver and so light drivers have to carry equalizing ballast with them. Except, as the smaller driver isn't carrying his/her mass in his/her shoulders and torso, the extra ballast weight can be placed flat on the floor, as low as possible. Placing the ballast thusly lowers the center of gravity of the race car and minutely improves cornering ability. Remember that racing has become so competitive that it is these tiny differences that can add up to first place. Smaller drivers, especially ones who are very fit, also dissipate body heat more efficiently, which is a critical factor in the 150F environs of a racing car cockpit. Add in up to 5 g of acceleration, cornering and braking forces and the smaller driver's body has even more advantages. Lastly, if you know you are going to have a driver who is small in stature, you can literally build a car around him or her, reducing things like frontal area for improved aerodynamics.