Slip, Sliding Away

The first time you watch a NASCAR race there’s almost an entire language that seems to along with it. While there are literally hundreds of terms associated with the sport, here are a few you might hear more often then others. The terms loose and tight are the ones you’ll most often hear from the drivers talk about. Being ‘loose’ is one of the terms drivers and crews use to refer to the handling of the car on the track. When a driver turns the wheel the car will tend to feel likes it’s sliding, the back end will want to ‘fishtail’ towards the outside wall. Tight is just the opposite of loose. When a car is ‘tight’ the driver tries to turn to the left and the front of the car seems to not want to steer in that direction. In this case the car will want to ‘push’ towards the outside wall.