How Well Do You Know NASCAR Jargon?

By: J.P. Naomi
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
How Well Do You Know NASCAR Jargon?
Image: YouTube

About This Quiz

Time to gas 'n' go and get your groove on! Hope them lucky dogs don't get the wave around! Take this quiz to see how well you know some of NASCAR's finest vocabulary!
What is the name for the metal blade attached to the rear deck lid of the car?
Spoiler
A spoiler helps restrict airflow over the rear of the car. This helps provide more downforce and traction.
Track Bar
Tapered Bar
Pit Stop

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If you're doing "donuts" on the track, it's because you ______.
Are hungry
Just won!
When the checkered flag is waved, it indicates that the race is over and a winner has been declared. Winners often feel the urge to do a few victory donuts.
Didn't get much sleep last night
Ran out of gas

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_________ refers to the resistance a car experiences when passing through air at high speeds.
Resistance
Drag
For a more scientific description, drag is the resisting force exerted on a car parallel to its air stream and opposite in direction to its motion. Now you know.
Loose
Downforce

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Considered the spoiler of the front, the ______ helps provide downforce to the front of the car.
Tapered Spacer
Slingshot
Splitter
The splitter runs the entire width of the front of the car and sometimes appears as if it's touching the ground.
Camber

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The degree of _________ refers to the height of a track's slope at its outside edge.
Blowing
Backing
Banking
Banking is the sloping of a race track - particularly at a curve or corner.
Drafting

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A ________ flag waves when either someone has wrecked, or there is debris on the track.
Stop
Red
Caution
When the caution flag waves, all drivers are required to slow down. It is a great opportunity to pit without losing time on the track.
Black and White Checkered

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The more ________ a car has, the more grip it has on the track.
Drag
Groove
Downforce
In auto racing, downforce is the combination of aerodynamic and centrifugal forces.
Camber

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The " ________ and White Checkered Finish" indicates NASCAR's version of overtime.
Green
A Green and White Checkered Finish allows up to three attempts at two-lap shootout finishes so that races don't end under caution.
Black
Yellow
Brown

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The _______ is considered the best route around the racetrack!
Quarter-Panel
Drag
Groove
The "high groove" takes a car closer to the outside wall for most of a lap, while the "low groove" takes a car closer to the apron than the outside wall.
Wave Around

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The "_______ Barrier" is a modern-designed outer wall that combines concrete with foam spacers to help absorb a driver's impact during a wreck.
Cushioned
Sound
SAFER
SAFER stands for the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier. It is also generically referred to as the "soft wall."
Courtesy

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Described in positive or negative degrees, this is the amount a tire is tilted in or out from vertical...
Camber
If the tire is slanted in, it has negative degrees. If it is slanted out, that is in positive degrees.
Downforce
Draft
Side drafting

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"_______ Air" is the aerodynamic term for the turbulent air currents generated by fast-moving cars that can cause a particular car to lose control.
Turbulent
Speedy
Dirty
Dirty air in laymen's terms is something one might experience while driving on the highway and a tractor-trailer passes.The faster you drive, the greater the sense of turbulence you feel.
Clean

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The "_______ Panel" is the sheet metal on both sides of the car from the C-post to the rear bumper, below the deck lid and above the wheel well.
Quarter
NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It was founded in 1948.
Half
Wheel
Loose

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What is the name of the thin metal plate with four holes that restricts airflow from the carburetor into the engine?
Backflow Plate
Blocker
Restrictor plate
The restrictor plate is used to reduce horsepower and keep speeds down. These plates are currently used at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
Carburetor Protector

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What is it called when a car takes a pit stop well before running out of fuel in an attempt to take the lead once the leaders make their pit stops?
Trick Stop
Short Pit
NASCAR headquarters are located in Daytona Beach, Florida. There's another office in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Pitting
Sneak Pit

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This is the practice of two or more cars, while racing, to run nose-to-tail, almost touching...
Tight Racing
Rounding
Slinging
Drafting
In drafting, the lead car, by displacing the air in front of it, creates a vacuum between its rear end and the nose of the following car, actually pulling the second car along with it.

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A _________ is a maneuver in which a car following the leader in a draft suddenly steers around it, breaking the vacuum.
Wave Around
Cut
Slingshot
A slingshot provides an extra burst of speed that allows the second car to take the lead.
Lucky Dog

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A _______ spacer is a metal piece that limits how much air/fuel gets into the engine cylinder.
Tapered
A tapered spacer helps to limit how much fuel can go into the cylinder. It reduces the amount of energy produced.
Starting
Limiting
Checkered

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A car is said to be _____ if the front wheels lose traction before the rear wheels do.
Slippery
Loose
Pitched
Tight
"Tight" is also known as "understeer." A tight race car doesn't seem able to steer sharply enough through the turns. Instead, the front end continues toward the wall.

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This refers to an adjustment to the car, not actually a shape.
Square
Triangle
Round
During a pit stop, you may observe someone shoving a wrench in the rear window giving it a "round" up or down. This move changes the way the car drives.
Hexagon

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Known as a "free pass" or "beneficiary," a ________ is when a yellow flag is waved and the first lapped drive gets a lap back.
Birdie
Lucky Dog
NASCAR's term for this is a "beneficiary" or "free pass," but on TV, it is referred to as a lucky dog.
Freebie
Recovery

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When the back end of a car is wiggling and losing stability on the turns, it is described as _________.
Wiggly
Loose
Also referred to as "oversteer," loose is when the car's rear tires can't stick the corners. The car may 'fishtail' as a result.
Tight
Wabbly

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Without a real horn, drivers may just use the bumper, also known as their ___________, to get the attention of the driver in front of them.
Chrome Horn
NASCAR is second to the National Football League among professional sports franchises in terms of television viewers and American fans.
Loud Voice
Radio
Cranky Baby

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What are the pieces of rubber built up on the groove of the track that can cause drivers to lose control of their cars?
Splinters
Marbles
NASCAR racers don't want to "play with the marbles." They might find themselves in a wreck if they drive through them.
Doppers
Bumpers

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________ is the difference in size of the left and right tires.
Differential
Comparable
Waver
Stagger
In many cases, the tires on the right side will be slightly larger than the ones on the left, making the car easier to turn.

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When a driver gets a flat tire and ends up in a wreck, he is said to have "______ a tire."
Hit
Cut
The tire didn't actually get cut, but the phrase "cut a tire" implies the wreck was caused by a flat.
Dropped
Broke

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What is it called when a driver takes a quick pit stop for gas only?
Quickie
Quick Gas
Gasser
Gas 'N' Go
No other work is done to the car during a Gas 'N' Go. It would sacrifice too much time that the driver does not have.

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During a caution flag, cars that are one lap down can stay out on the track for a ________ around.
Cruise
Ride
Wave
Cars that are one lap down get waved around the pace car before the restart of the race. These folks may be considered lucky dogs!
Dog

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What is slang for the final official practice before a race?
Heat
Trial Run
Practice loop
Happy Hour
NASCAR exists in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and the European Union.

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I'm having problems "driving into the ___________." My car is either too tight or too loose entering the corner.
Street
Corner
If a driver's car is not performing well on the corners, they will say they are having problems, "driving into the corner."
Track
Station

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What is it called when a car races alongside another car and drops air flow from that car's nose to the spoiler of the other car, causing the other car to lose momentum?
Short pit
Tapered Spacer
Slingshot
Side Drafting
Side drafting is a strategy used on larger tracks such as Talladega, Daytona, and Michigan.

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Some may say the engine "let go" or the car "hand grenaded," but NASCAR enthusiasts would also say the engine was "_________".
Gone!
Crazy
Blowin' Up
The engine just gave up the ghost! This is usually followed by a large cloud of smoke from the burning oil and fluids.
Spittin' Fire

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A driver's secondary stock car is known as their _______ car.
Registered
Backup
The backup car cannot be unloaded and used unless the primary car is damaged beyond repair. The backup car must also pass all NASCAR inspections.
Second
Unfit

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An ________ is an understeer condition caused when a car pulls closely into another car's air stream.
Abbott
Aero Push
"Taking the air" is a term used when the downforce is broken by a car beside or behind a car.
Aero Release
Under Carriage

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A ______ bar is a rear bar assembly that can be raised to loosen the car or lowered to tighten during the race.
Track
Pit crews access the track bar through the rear window using an extended ratchet. They can adjust the track bar during a pit stop depending on the car's prior performance.
Seat
Aero
Tire

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