Food Lion Race Week
Inspection
Focus object or destination in the Hall:
Inspection area in Food Lion Race Week
Grade Level:
Grades 4 - 5
Lesson Objective: Students will understand the NASCAR Inspection process,
with a focus on weight.
National Science Education Standards:
Content Standard B: As a result of their activities in grades 5
– 8, all students should develop an understanding of:
properties and changes of properties in matter; motions and
forces; and transfer of energy.
NCSCOS Objectives:
Science, Grade 5, Competency Goal 4:
The learner will conduct investigations and use appropriate
technologies to build an understanding of forces and motion
in technological designs.
Objective 4.06: Build and use a model to solve a mechanical
design problem.
Science, Grade 7, Competency Goal 6:
The learner will conduct investigations, use models,
simulations, and appropriate technologies and information
systems to build an understanding of motion and forces.
Objective 6.05: Describe and measure quantities that
characterize moving objects and their interactions within a
system: time, distance, mass, force, velocity, center of mass
and acceleration.
Vocabulary:
time, distance, speed, NASCAR Inspection Process, template
Materials/Supplies:
Stop watch or some type of timer, Pinewood Derby car or
something similar, various coins, sloped “track”
Pre-Visit Activity
Tell the students that they are going to learn about the NASCAR inspection
process and how the results of that process impact the race car and race
outcomes. The NASCAR inspection process is focused on different components
of the car such as the car’s body, height, weight, safety features, and more.
There are as many as 15 different templates that are used to measure each car
and each car manufacturer – Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota – has eight
unique templates.
Today’s lesson will focus on the weight of the car and its impact on the speed of
the car.
Here is a list of the NASCAR weight requirements:
 The minimum weight requirement for a car is 3,450 pounds and that
includes the fuel, oil, water, etc., but not the driver.
 The right side of the car must weigh a minimum of 1,700 pounds.
 The weight of the right front and left rear wheels must be between 44 –
55% of the total car weight.
 The total rear weight of the left and right rear wheels must not exceed
50% of the car’s minimum required weight.
What is the range, by pounds, of the weight of the right front and left rear
wheels of a car that weighs 3,275 pounds?
What is the maximum rear weight of the left and right rear wheels if the car
weighs 3, 725 pounds?
Tell the students that the driver’s weight must be a minimum of 200 pounds or
NASCAR will add 10 pound increments to the total weight to bring it to the
minimum of 200 pounds. So, if a driver weights 185 pounds, how much weight
will be added to bring the total to the required minimum of 200 pounds?
Ask the students to discuss why a car owner wants the car to weigh the least
amount possible.
Ask students why NASCAR requires car owners and car drivers to meet
minimum weight requirements.
Visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame
The Inspection area in the NASCAR Hall of Fame contains NASCAR rule books, a
car with a template, a wall of illegal parts, and much more. Assign students into
pairs or small groups to gather information from this area. The assignments
should be as follows:
 Discover the following information about NASCAR rule books:
o What is the earliest year that you see a rule book?
o What is the most recent year that you see a rule book?
o How have the rule books changed from earliest to latest based on
what you can see?
 Discover the following information about the illegal parts wall:
o What is illegal about the purple coil spring?
o What is illegal about the gas can?
o What is illegal about the Gatorade drink bag?
 Discover the following information about the templates:
o Examine the step gauge and its function.
o What manufacture templates are found in the Inspection area?
Post-Visit Activity
Ask students to share the information that they gathered in the Inspection area
with the other students. Discuss the reasons why they think that NASCAR has a
rule book. List these reasons on the board.
Next, take a Pinewood Derby car or something similar and weigh it. Then, begin
to add weight via various combinations of coins and their placement on the car.
Place the car on a sloped “track” and measure the times based on the various
weight combinations created by the coins. Note the times and discuss.