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the extra momentum. As it moves<br />
ahead, the vacuum reappears behind<br />
the first machine, increasing its drag<br />
and slowing it down.<br />
While you can see drafting and<br />
slingshotting in MotoGP, Formula I,<br />
the Indy <strong>Racing</strong> League and Champ<br />
Car, the effect is most easily spotted<br />
on NASCAR superspeedways like<br />
Daytona and Talladega. There, drivers<br />
work in drafting lines, cooperating<br />
and <strong>com</strong>peting with drafting<br />
partners until the final laps, when<br />
they try to time a slingshot pass. If<br />
they time it wrong, they lose several<br />
positions. If they get it right, they’re<br />
gone with the draft, and they cross<br />
the finish line first. ■ — Eric Tegler<br />
Bad as It Wants to Be:<br />
Dodge’s Viper Competition Coupe<br />
When Tommy Archer stalled on the<br />
standing start of the final 2004<br />
Speed GT series race in October, he<br />
fell to the tail of the 34-car field. But<br />
he got going and stormed his way to<br />
a third-place finish, passing the Audi<br />
RS6 of championship leader Michael<br />
Galati on the way. With that, Archer<br />
took the drivers’ championship. He<br />
did it in a Viper Competition Coupe.<br />
Building on the tradition and outstanding<br />
racing success of the<br />
Dodge Viper GTS-R (1996–2000),<br />
the <strong>com</strong>pany introduced the new,<br />
track-ready Viper Competition Coupe<br />
in 2003. Based on the street-going<br />
Viper SRT-10, the Competition<br />
Coupe is wrapped in a carbon/Kevlar<br />
body, strengthened by a full roll<br />
cage and stout front-end bracing.<br />
Power <strong>com</strong>es from a race-tuned version<br />
of the SRT-10’s aluminum 8.3<br />
liter V10, which produces 520<br />
horsepower and 540 pounds per<br />
foot of torque.<br />
Other racing enhancements include<br />
a differential cooler, ducted brakes,<br />
six-point restraints and fire suppression<br />
system, all adapted by <strong>com</strong>pany<br />
engineers at Dodge Motorsports. Such<br />
racing technology transfers to the<br />
<strong>Chrysler</strong> Group vehicles you can drive.<br />
Check them out at www.dodge.<strong>com</strong><br />
and www.chrysler.<strong>com</strong>.<br />
BOB MAHONEY<br />
Second car drives in<br />
lead car’s wake to gain<br />
momentum from<br />
decreased air pressure.<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 27
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