Digital dash sign of times
New street-like car display gives drivers more info
In another move that will make race cars closer in style and appearance to street vehicles, teams are required to run digital dashboards in Sprint Cup cars this year.
Several teams used the new dashes, which replace analog gauges that record such things as water temperature and RPM levels, in the closing months of last season. They became mandatory for Speedweeks activities at Daytona International Speedway.
The dashes fit in generally the same space — behind the steering wheel — as the former analog devices. They provide readouts — available in a variety of colors, sizes and designs — of water and oil temperatures, water and oil pressure, fuel pressure, transmission and rear end temperature, voltage, lap times and RPMs.
The rectangular units can be customized. The display can be changed from a traditional circular gauge to digital-clock-type numbers to a linear graph — and beyond. Colors can be changed, and each indicator can be moved to numerous places on the dash.
The switch will require adjustments for drivers and crews.
“There will be some growing pains and some issues and problems, for sure,” said Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Chase Elliott. “But there is with everything.
“It’s good, though. You can tailor things. And I think the most important thing is that it’s relevant. What street car has all standard gauges anymore?”
Brighter, bigger numbers probably will be a plus for drivers.
“I ran the last three races (last season) with it,” Jimmie Johnson said. “It’s cool. There’s a lot it can do. You can see it very well.”
It also is likely, however, that there will be issues, particularly in the early going. Jamie McMurray said he had problems with the dash on pit road during last weekend’s Sprint Unlimited. “We sat at the shop for hours, and I went over what I thought I was going to like (with the dash), and then when we did pit road practice for the Unlimited, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s perfect,’ ” he said. “And then the first pit stop in the race and I’m like, ‘I don’t know why I picked this.’ At one point I’m like pretty sure I was speeding right there, but I don’t know.”
Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s vice president of racing development, said the switch to digital dashes would open the door for bigger changes down the road.
“We want to do this in a way so that eventually we can send information to the driver on cau- tion flags, red flags, penalties,” he said. “We can’t do that with the conventional gauges. Eventually, we hope to get to a place where, when a caution flag comes out, it would light up instantaneously at the same time (on all driver dashes).”
NASCAR is months, perhaps years, away from installing the attrack communications links that would be required for such a system, Stefanyshyn said. “We have to build that link,” he said. “But it’s the digital dash that will enable us to display that. I don’t think it will happen this season.”
NASCAR plans experiments this year with tire sensors that would send pressure readings to the dash. “The dash has a lot more capability that we haven’t exploited yet,” Stefanyshyn said.
Ultimately, there is likely to be a fan connection to the new dashes, he said. “This will open the door for us when we’re in a place to provide more information to fans,” he said.
Driver Carl Edwards said he was concerned about the possibility of the dashes failing.
“The one thing that you always think of is, ‘ What if that thing goes black?’ ” he said, comparing the dash to gauges in his private plane. “You’re relying so much on that. In the Cessna, we have backup gauges and all these things. … But in the race car, you’re getting all of your information from that one unit. That could be a factor, too. … It could be a disadvantage.”