# Nascar Cheaters Caught



## MA-Caver (Aug 17, 2008)

> *NASCAR finds cheating after Nationwide race*
> 
> By MIKE HARRIS, AP Auto Racing Writer _8 hours, 14 minutes ago_
> 
> ...


Now I'm not up on motors or whatever, never took auto-shop in school :idunno: just wasn't my thing ... so I'm at a loss at what magnets under the gas pedal would do, they *wanted* to cut horse-power or?? 

Nascar races can bring the greatest number of spectators to any ONE singular sporting event (if you can call driving around and around and around and around a sport  ), but now being caught cheating... it may or may not impact the *ahem* sport but who can tell. It's sad but not surprising, almost like catching athletes using steroids.


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## terryl965 (Aug 17, 2008)

Yea I read it and still do not understand whata magnet does under the gas pedal.


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## Dave Leverich (Aug 17, 2008)

Guessing here, but it could allow them to have a 'max' for speed trials etc, then remove and instant jump of 15 hp? Test car, it's right you're cleared to go, remove magnets (cheat mode enabled).. That kind of thing maybe?


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## Jade Tigress (Aug 18, 2008)

Dave Leverich said:


> Guessing here, but it could allow them to have a 'max' for speed trials etc, then remove and instant jump of 15 hp? Test car, it's right you're cleared to go, remove magnets (cheat mode enabled).. That kind of thing maybe?



I don't get it either, but this is a good deduction. I don't like nascar anyway, I think it's boring. *ducks to avoid smacks upside the head by all the nascar fans*


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## Sukerkin (Aug 18, 2008)

Don't be thrown by the fact that they were magnets.  My guess is that that was just the method of attachment.  The cheat was to reduce pedal travel thus hiding the true output, as Dave suggested above.

Also, Pam, you are quite correct, NASCAR is not racing as most petrol heads would define it.  Still, it keeps certain people amused and brought Danica Patrick into motorsport, so it's not all a waste .


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## jkembry (Aug 18, 2008)

Jade Tigress said:


> I don't get it either, but this is a good deduction. I don't like nascar anyway, I think it's boring. *ducks to avoid smacks upside the head by all the nascar fans*




Not big on NASCAR here...I do watch the Daytona 500 mostly for the food my buddy has at his Daytona 500 party.  I do enjoy Indy racing and Grand Prix.

I will say that NASCAR has done a helluva job at marketing to get and keep its fanbase.

As far as the magnets, I will as my friend who is big into this to see if he can explain better...and pass it on.


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## FearlessFreep (Aug 18, 2008)

The magnets were put on after the race for the post race inspections.  They were put in place to keep the gas pedal from going all the way down, so that the output of the engines would look lower during the inspection than it was for the races. 

Since NASCAR works to keep car performance fairly approximate as a baseline, this would fool officials into thinking that the car were within specs when they were actually generating more HP.


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## Rich Parsons (Aug 18, 2008)

First real drivers turn left and right, and also use their brakes. Many of them do it on two wheels not just four.  

BTW: I want a "I am The STIG" T-Shirt. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stig


As to magnets, I would guess that everyone here has it right. 
The sensors on the pedal read the voltage resistance of two sensors and compare them to make sure they are both acting correctly. This is part of the Drive by wire safety. Of course race cars could do others methods or be less secure as they are on a closed course and not on public roads. The Magnet in this location should not cause any EMC/RFI issues for the sensors. A magnet in that location would in essence limit the max pedal and thereby limit the torque or horse power (* depending upon what you are measuring *) maximum for the vehicle for a test. 

If a team had found a way to squeeze out more HP and not get caught then in the old days this would be considered good engineering or good pit crew work. But in modern times, with making sure money alone does not buy the winning team there are limits to make the whole thing technically possible for anyone on the track to win.


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