Ballast weight is added to race cars to meet minimum weight requirements and improve handling. Lead weights are placed around the chassis, with location varying depending on racing style. Sanctioning bodies require ballast to be painted white and labeled with car number.
Ballast weight is added to the weight placed on a race car’s chassis to help its handling characteristics. Lead weights, known as ballast weights, are placed around the vehicle’s chassis to bring the car up to the required weight and place the weight where it is most beneficial. Depending on the racing style, the ballast weight may be attached to the chassis in a high or low position on the vehicle. The weight is typically lead, in the form of bars, which is drilled to fit over the threaded rod and bolted to the racing frame.
Race cars are required to meet a specific minimum weight to compete in a given class, and car weight rules are usually dictated by the sanctioning body or race track. To create a well-balanced race car, the builder will typically build the car light weight and use lead ballast to bring the car up to standard. The advantage of this is that the builder can place the weight in a specific location to improve the handling characteristics of the vehicle. Racers have long known the advantage of moving weight around a frame to increase performance in a certain area. The style of racing will determine the location of the additional ballast weight.
Asphalt racers generally mount the weight as low as possible on the race car’s chassis to promote good cornering and handling traits. However, dirt racers generally place the weight as high on the chassis as possible to promote body roll and increased traction and drivability. Weight is also usually placed with an internal weight bias and also to promote a good balance between the front and rear of the vehicle. When a sanctioning body adds ballast weight as a penalty, it is usually placed in front of the vehicle’s steering wheel to create a heavy race car that is more difficult to handle.
Some drivers have been known to add aluminum bars on a chassis to confuse their competitors as to the location and amount of ballast the car is equipped with. As a general rule, most sanctioning bodies require a racer to paint the ballast weight white and affix the car number to each lead bar. This is intended to not only make a dropped ballast weight bar clearly visible to other drivers on the track, but the number makes it possible to identify which car the weight was dropped from – the team could be penalized for the weight loss.
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