Jeff Gordon's T-Rex: Working in the Grey Area
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- Опубликовано: 4 июн 2024
- In the 1997 Winston, Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports team unveiled T-Rex. They proceeded to win the event, and were told to never bring it back. This is the story of T-Rex.
Twitter: Jesse_king_540?s=09
Music Used:
The Prophet - Alec Slayne
I'm Not Crying (Instrumental) - Of Men And Wolves 
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In my opinion this was the best car ever built. It meet all the rules in the book and figured out how to maximize the car. It is honestly impressive they were able to do this and it not be illegal at the time. This is what NASCAR is all about in my opinion. Make the best car possible within the rules provided even if it means bending but not breaking them.
NASCAR HAS THEIR RULES SO SCREWED UP!...Now trying to take set ups away from teams by placing designated "packages " at different tracks, this not only includes the body of the race cars but shocks, springs and chassis setups....The teams have their hands tied!
If you look at the History of NASCAR, it's full of "Cheaters". For the longest time the rules were whatever the hell Big Bill said they were and if he didn't like you, Smokey, you didn't race. Smokey's biggest obstacle was his panache for sharing his knowledge with others over an adult beverage or few with other Drivers and chiefs, who would then run to Bill crying because he was "cheating". Meanwhile, their teams were busy implementing Smokey's innovations on there own cars.
Their go to reason for disqualification is STILL "Detrimental to the spirit of competition". WTH does that even mean in a competitive sport?
What about the car he had at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega?
From an old dirt track racer jack hewitt...illegal is a sick bird
@@bobtait3106 if that's true than I'm glad I don't watch much anymore...crazy that sure as hell ain't racing
The reason it got banned was that the other teams were pissed off they hadn't thought of it first
That's why great things rarely happen.
@Jake Heke Fuck off you liar.
Jake Heke so you’re saying France was socialist? Lol you know that guys a person right not a country? How’d a politician like you get into nascar?
@@eatfarts3024 France was very much a socialist/dictator, and NASCAR was his world so his word was the final say so, PERIOD! Kinda explains the state of NASCAR today
TRW Woodall lmfao socialism doesn’t always include dictatorships. Dictatorships can be formed in all sorts of government structures.
So basically it got deemed illegal because that was easier ( cheaper ) than the other team owners trying to match their work.
Yep. Angry because they couldn't beat him with their inferior equipment
Because nascar owners are such pansies against competition that anything that has an advantage is automatically wrong. Think of them like the helicopter mom who runs the peewee football league who bans any play other than the ones SHE made up because then its "fair" to everyone's child. Its why STOCK CAR racing hasn't had an actual CAR since the 80's
Sounds like something the FIA would do. And that's just sad
@@claytonmachine12 "Its why STOCK CAR racing hasn't had an actual CAR since the 80's"
Yea should be "stock chassis" racing tbh
@@skooby_doobie_doonkann3334 T-Rex car was built with aspects that were not stated in the rules book but soon afterwards were. Ray Evernham was an expert at doing such things during his entire career in NASCAR.
The best car ever built in the rulebook, Ray and Jeff made the TRex unbeateble, so nascar pulled the plug
Earnhardt's 1990 super speedway car was untouchable.
@@rolltide9547 untouchable I don't think anyone could beat it
Bigger restrictor plate makes everything go faster🤔 #favoritism
*Rex Stump 90% Ray Evernham 10%
"It's easier to kill Frankenstein than to try and figure out how to get along with him." So true.
and it kinda hampers innovation in racing. just like how Le Mans banned the rotary engine after Mazda finally won with it, after years of losing with it.
NASCAR IS DEAD!
You might as well say there’s one car, one engineer, rotating winners. That’s just not racing.
@@sepg5084 the rotary is a beautiful design so I'm not surprised Le Mans banned the rotary cause it beat their beloved designs of straight, inlines an V's it was "supposedly" going to be a rule implemented beforehand but only got implemented AFTER Mazda won so they just look like a salty bunch
THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR NASCAR INTEGRITY...THEY NOW CONTROL WHAT SET UPS AND SHOCK PACKAGES CAN BE USED ....THE TEAMS NO LONGER CAN WORK THE RULE BOOK....MIGHT AS WELL JUST RUN THE SAME NUMBER AND PAINT SCHEME AS EVERYBODY ELSE....NASCAR HAS THEIR HAND TOO FAR UP EVERYBODY'S ASS ...AND IT SHOWS!
More like, so ridiculous. A catchy expression doesn't always represent truth, accuracy, or even common sense. Clearly in your case it was enough to convince you. But those of us with AT LEAST two braincells left to rub together, can see how STUPID this was of NASCAR. It wasn't some "frankenstein" LMAO, did it look any fucking different than the other two dozen cars? No? Then ditch your "frankenstein" expression, it doesn't even make sense. Not only that, it was built 100% WITHIN THE RULES. Sports NATURALLY EVOLVE, they HAVE TO, or they die slow deaths while desperate idiots try to hold into the past. How about THAT as your expression?! LOL.... I LOVE that NASCAR is dying. They've done it to themselves, and I hope it destroys itself once and for all pretty soon. Nope, you CANNOT innovate within the rules, but you can smash your car into the wall at full speed and use the wall to slingshot you around the corner and into a qualifying or winning position.... You strike me as someone who probably spews that sort of hypocrisy.... The great sports have been allowed to evolve, the sports who wanted to cling to the past, died there.... Enjoy your pathetic "Next Gens" LOL....
what's the point in R&D if you build a car by the rules yet it still gets banned.
Bill France doesn't like people using the rules to win. He wants the rules to make for closer racing because wrecked race cars get fans excited. Always was the goal.
That's ASSCAR for you
@@blakethornsbrough1528 an interview with Jeff (post retirement I think with the Dale Jr Download. I think) he said there was this one time, Atlanta or California, he was leading with such a huge Gap Nascar radioed him to slow down. This was during his dominance around 96-98.
@@jamesdb7115 that's how we got the car of tomorrow and the sticker on the grill is now completely irrelevant.
@@jamesdb7115 i just looked for it it was Joe Buck
Jeff must of had the time of his life in that car. Teams hard work paid off, he got to compete with it and it dominated the competition. I imagine if you're a auto racer this is the moment you race for.
This was kinda like NASCAR's version of Team Penske's 1,000-HP Mercedes-Benz engine at the 1994 Indianapolis 500. In both cases, it wasn't technically illegal, but so cutting-edge that the rules were changed to ensure it could never happen again.
So basically, T-Rex was the Nascar equivalent to Roger Penske's "Beast" engine from the 1994 Indy 500.
So in response to NASCAR adding tons of rules because of this car...in 1998 Gordon and Evernham had arguably the best and most dominant season in NASCAR history.
Boggles the mind how it could have been even more dominant. We could have realistically seen a 18-22 win season if the car had not been banned.
Eh, there were plenty of rumors that they found other advantages in 1998. Dipping the tires, traction control through the ignition system, etc.
@@rebelracing88 LOL. Rumors. Ok. Every champion ever would be extremely disappointed if their crew chief wasn't consistently pushing the limits of engineering and testing the rule boundaries.
what rules? no one says what rules
Traction control LMAO that was all driver @@rebelracing88
It's a shame when any team in motor racing gets accused of cheating but it's down to hard work and let the complainers complain
The team built the car based on the rulebook, so theyre not in the wrong
When I was growing up, my Dad was really into NASCAR, and as a result, so was I. I learned to count by watching the races on TV, and I chose Jeff Gordon as my favorite driver because he was winning a lot and I liked that his car had a rainbow on it. The light switch cover in my bedroom at my parents house is still the original paint scheme. Thanks Jesse!
I had that same light switch cover growing up!
Same here.
Had this same light cover too lol
Had that same light switch!
The legend of T rex. God those days of nascar were so much more exciting
Not nearly enough straight up cheating nowadays
"It won't be tomorrow"
Those 4 words had to have hurt more than anything
Actually the quote from France was “it won’t be Monday”. The Winston ran on Saturday night. The didn’t make rule changes until Monday. 🤷🏻♂️🙂
Guy genius: *revolutionizes the car and creates something that could change the sport forever*
NASCAR: The children that own the other cars are throwing a tantrum so stop that
What's the point of racing a car you can't beat? I guess Jeff could have raced alone...But, that wouldn't be much fun! No other team would waste $$, racing a car that couldn't be beat!
@@brentfarvors192 They all had the same rule book. They literally won fair and square.
@@digitalcamaro9708 BS! Gordon was CHEATING! He just didn't get caught! Watching the old races makes it OBVIOUS! His lap times were a full 2 seconds faster than everyone else's. Every time he came off of a caution, he blew all the other cars away. Came down to if anyone else wanted to win, they had to take him out of the race...
@@brentfarvors192 More like working in the gray area - Not exactly cheating per se, but pushing to the limits of what the Formula allows. Adding unneeded rule changes kills innovation.
@@pedrosoandrew Sounds an awful lot to me like: "It's not cheating, if you don't get caught..." Gordon was doing SOMETHING fishy in the late 90's, and everyone else probably figured out what it was...
Sometimes it's not how well you finish, but how many pages you add to the rulebook.
Like Wilt Chamberlain in basketball. It's stunning how many rules were made trying to stop him.
I remember this as a kid but never knew the specifics about what they did to make the car. great video.
When you’re the reason for the new rules in the rule book
*insert Gary Busey giving thumbs up*
I love being the reason for memos at work. 😃
@@dchawk81 or safety meetings...lmfao
Hendrick Motorsports team: *wins a race with their OP but somehow also legal T-Rex car
NASCAR: *_GET THE METEOR_*
The true genuis of nascar drivers is their intuition.
A lot of people can build their reflexes, train driving, and shifting, and drivting, etc.
But people said dale earnhardt could feel the air around his car.
When the trex car wasnt complete yet, jeff gordon said "theres something there".
I think all the greatest drivers have some sort of 6th sense. Where they can just feel the very small speed changes.
Almost like a great guitar player being able to use the guitar as an extention of their own body as opposed to an instrument. These drivers can feel what their car feels in a way.
I just watched Rounders for the first time yesterday. It has a quote in it that fits this situation well: You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin it once. Gordon and Evernham thought it would be ok for them to dominate in the car because they followed the rule book in making it. If Gordon had sandbagged and barely eked out a win, they could've won a lot more races with that car.
I have a replica of this car in 1/24 scale forever racing Dale Earnhardt's #3 on display in my game room. Thank you for this video!!! Subbed.
To me this was a precursor build that changed the game in that era. I was at the second race this chassis was used, the Brickyard, and yes it led laps, but it was not the dominant car that it was in this instance. At the same time, a lot of these ideas that were done to this car are used today, such as the suspension to stiffen the rear end, the raised floor pan to prevent bottoming out. It was a 100% legal build...and I think honestly that's what makes this car so different. It wasn't a crazy build, it was a car built within the rules, but showed what potential a car would have.
I REALLY miss the days of INNOVATION in NASCAR! Smokey, Jr and others were masters of working in the "gray area". Unfortunatly, it's turning into a "spec" series these days. I still watch and attend races though.
Jeff Gordon forever my favorite driver
This is one of my favorite stories.
Another example of Nascar ruining everything good about competition.
I’ve never watched nascar but these videos are actually really interesting keep it up man
Love your videos! Keep ‘em coming :)
Great video we need more Jesse KING videos
Dude, Jesse, your story telling is gold man 👌👌👌
Will be looking forward for your channel to grow to a big nascar channel, keep it going brother
Jeff Gordon was my favorite driver
Hey bud I just started watching your videos. So far really good. Keep up the good work home slice
We need more stories like this to break into the secret vaults of Nascar!
This story sounds very similar to the story behind an F1 car that ran only once and scored a victory in that one race. In 1978, the Lotus team, led by Mario Andretti and Ronnie Peterson, were dominating the world championship in the Ground Effect Lotus types 78 and 79 and were well enroute to cleaning up with Andretti. However, the rival Brabham team, lead by defending champion Niki Lauda and his team mate John Watson, introduced a new car for the Swedish Grand Prix.
The idea behind the new car, officially the Brabham BT46B, aka the Fan Car, was to exploit the grey area of the regulations, like T-Rex. The regulations in F1 at the time stated that "a movable aerodynamic device primarily to influence the performance of the car was illegal," therefore, designer, Gordon Murray, incorporated a fan at the rear of the car, driven by the gearbox, to argue that the fan was to cool the engine, but with the side effect of sucking the car down to the track surface. The idea was to have the fan remove air from the floor of the car, to increase the speed of the car through the corners.
Having thrown their opposition off the scent by qualifying on full fuel loads, lining up 2nd and 3rd on the grid, Lauda began hounding Andretti in the Lotus 79. The fan was at its most effective when the drivers were running in a lower gear than normal, spooling the fan, and sucking as much air from under the floor as possible. Lauda passed Andretti and eventually went on to win the race by 34 seconds, huge for the 1970's era F1.
Even though the car was legal by the letter of the regulations, political pressure from other teams and ultimately the governing body of the sport lead to it being withdrawn. Murray, knowing how good it was, was seething when he was told to withdraw the car
Please keep up the content it’s so awesome reminds me of being a kid
Technically its was a soft spring small bar setup in that particular car. But once they figured out the aero advantage of keeping the nose flat..... well there comes the big bar side of it lol
Awesome video, thanks man!!
I forgot what material it was, but there was parts on the car's chassis that weren't 'approved' by Nascar either. My dad worked at 600 Racing at CMS and I remember him being hot as hell that that car was allowed to run and Gordy was allowed to keep that win. He said if that car had hit the wall it would have damn near exploded on impact.
Okay it was titanium, pops told me they used it to take all the 'flex' out of the chassis so it could achieve the ground effect. HOWEVER, the cars were designed to 'crumple' in wrecks to disperse the energy. Gordon's car was dangerous because it would have been a lead sled in a wreck and not crumpled because it was so stiff and reinforced, so the energy of the wreck would have hit him squarely. So not explode, but if he hit the wall head on, it'd been like riding on a 180 mph missile. At least that's how I understood it.
@MetalMastodon this is true, it's just not only was this car overtly in the 'grey' it was dangerous to the driver. Of course when Rusty Wallace made his roof flaps 'safer' he was fined 225,000 dollars. But of course this has nothing to do with the favoritism of Nascar towards Chevy and Hendricks at all... *Innocent whistle*
@Dino Well he was there first hand, so I'd say my pops account is solidly based in reality. The man built the Legends Car program.
@Dino Yeah it was dude. Just cause you were in the stands doesn't mean you had working knowledge of the car and the garage.
@Dino hey now, no need to disrespect to that level. Please. I think it's awesome you worked on that car and so you'd know what really was on that car. It's also understandable the hearsay that can go through the garage with this 'illegal' car. That was a beautiful and beast of a car.
Great work bro!! Also but call it "coincidence " but I never knew about the softer front/stiffer rear spring setup until I played "nascar thunder 2004" and applied that method to Jimmie Johnson's car at Lowe's and it was a rocket (outside of a wedge/tire/spoiler/fender flare adjustment) 🤣. Since then I never looked back and it's been saved ever since.
I first learned about it from watching a 2005 (?) Race at Vegas where they mentioned the grip and air dam "sealing" provided by soft front springs. Tried in Thunder 04 and went off like a rocket
Nobody ever questioned the races where Earnhardt charged to the front and stayed a country mile ahead of the field for laps to take the checkered flag 🙄
Because Earnhardt was their "golden boy" and you couldn't have some rookie winning championships right out of the gate almost every single year even though he was that good. While it was probably the best car ever built and still legal according to the rules they couldn't have a no name rookie beating the 'best drivers" at that time with a car that while legal so ahead of its time, more innovative and faster than the rest outshining people like Earnhardt waltrip Johnson and Elliot just to name a few. He was a rookie with an innovative car that was faster than the rest and so instead of trying to get along with Frankenstein they killed him. It was easier and cheaper, not only that he was also a rookie. Had that car been built by Earnhardt or any of the other drivers they probably wouldn't have batted an eye but Gordon was probably the youngest in the field and a rookie so he had to "pay his dues".
The year Soft Springs and Big Bar got introduced to the World !!!
The 24 Was GREAT!!! I sure miss Jeff, because the guys racing CHEVROLETS don't have it!!!
I really hope Byron delivers it, but Jeff was the best in my opinion, Jimmie now needs to find his way again if he really wants to end his career on a high note, Bowman and Elliott have a lot to grow
Elliot has been dominating the road courses. Last year at Watkins Glenn and the Charlotte Roval no one else has a chance.
Ha! The Twisted Sister picture I posted on Reddit made it in the video!
I heard Darrell say it best. They aren't rule breakers, they're rule MAKERS.
Cool video thanks for posting
Hey Jesse, love the videos, but i have one tip for you...invest in a pop filter for your microphone. Would clean up the audio quality a ton :)
Great video brotha, only complaint was your mic quality. That’s legit the only complaint good shit man
Incredible feat
F1 ingenuity in NASCAR setting... too damn good.
The t-rex car was like Mercedes rear suspension of today lol
Yeah, but in Nascar the tech gets banned.
F1 cars don't sound as good as they used to, but they're faster than ever.
After Grosjean's fireball crash, everybody has accepted the Halo, and Lewis and Verstappen are fighting for the title in an incredibly exciting championship this year. Oh, and rules are still being bent, obviously.
Badass video, awesome knowledge
Rex Stump is the man
He has brought SHR to elite speed and quick
Hendrick Motor Sports have struggled big time since he left
Elite Speed? You mean Harvick to Elite Speed. Unlike HMS and JGR, no other driver at SHR won 3 or more race win in the same season as Harvick.
AllaboutheWaves I agree but the whole SHR team got up to speed quick after switching to Ford because of Stump
Terry McNamara You are right about them getting up to speed thanks to Stump but let’s be honest, Harvick has been carrying them since he came. No other driver is consistent year in year out on that team like him which is sad.
AllaboutheWaves I agree
Harvick is elite - The other 3 not so much
Big year in 2021 for SHR
Larson
Possibly Erik Jones or Christopher Bell
All free agents
Harvick retires - Larson to the 4
Bowyer last year of his contract this year - Jones or Bell to the 14
Custer
Arik in the other ride
Even though i always HATED Gordon, as an engineer, I LOVE the story behind this car
What exactly is the point of R&D if you’re going to ban a car that followed all the rules?
To prevent a Formula 1 situation.
@@michaelskoomamacher5652 F1 pulls the same shit with every team that isn't Ferrari.
@@alaeriia01 so how come the 2005 technical changes were literally all made to stop the Ferrari dominance by restricting key factors of the F2004? The Ferrari V10 was also by far the most reliable engine, yet following 2005 rules changed for V8s.
Ferrari didn't really innovate that much through F1 history either, apart from the gearbox.
Red Bull got the same treatment with the Renault V8 and their dominance.
Mercedes they tried to change the rules but only chassis wise, when it should've also affected the engine.
Almost every team got their stuff banned at some point.
So stop spewing nonsense.
@@ItzAnonyms I take it you're either not familiar with the meme or salty that I called out your team.
@@alaeriia01 which meme? Never heard of any meme that could be like that...
Team wise I've always preferred Williams and they've been at the back for ages lol
Very good video. Like how you make no real villain out of anyone.
Loved this video dude keep going
It’s calming to know that the FIA and F1 aren’t the only crazy ones in terms of new innovations and banning them as soon as the seasons done
For anyone that watches F1 this is the W11 Merc of Nascar.
It's sad how much they play with the money, they made a car that was already spent cash, illegal, after one race, with no consideration I'm assuming, to the compensation of needing to rebuild another one
T-Rex set in motion the modern setup. Unfortunately, that’s also one of the reasons why the aerodynamic problem really intensified going into the late 90’s. The setup under T-Rex never would’ve worked with the lower downforce and bias ply tires of the past. Still, the innovation of that racecar really was something amazing.
I would say it was trend setting. Around 2003 when I got into NASCAR, I remember hearing DW talk about the set up of the cars were different in his day, soft rear springs, stiff fronts, etc, and saying all the cars of the modern era (at that time) all based their set ups on the stiff rear/ soft front template so to speak.
I always thought T-Rex was called as such because of the Jurassic Park sponsorship, interesting factoid that it was named after its engineer
great video!
Ricky Craven must have been driving another "R+D" hendrick car for this race.
They should have kept that cars secrets quite. When evernham left Gordon should have been given Chad Knaus. Chad said as much when he was switched to another team
So it becomes a high-rake (like 2020 Red Bull F1 car) but only at high speed, simply due to set-up. Brilliant.
Crazy that the car was named after the guy who designed it, and not for the actual T-rex on the hood.
is there any documentation on exactly what was different between t-rex and another gordon car? maybe a spec sheet or something?
I'd love to see that
Great video man, I’d put some money towards some audio recording equipment though
the explanation of the ground effects when the car dips doesn't make sense to me. cars running ground effects try to be low all the time, not high then dip with soft springs. Did the height allow lower drag on the straights, but soft springs allowed ground effects in the corners?
I dig your videos, why 360p tho?
Loved watching the T-Rex win the Winston. Thanks for this video.
so what exactly is different in the t-rex
It's the tires...nope ,oh now its the car .....no it was JEFF GORDON
Remember when Gibbs spent like 2 million developing a better air impact gun then they banned that too? Nascar keeps changing the rules to make it "fair" after someone innovates, but the cream always rises back to the top
That team knew how to build
Is T Rex still on display at the muesem?
This was just another nail in NASCARS coffin stopping innovation with more rules
If you weren't pushing the envelope in every single aspect of the rule book, and trying to gain every single competitive advantage, you didn't want to win.
I think they screwed Gordon on not allowing that car being raced
You realize they won 13 races and the championship the following season right?
@@88fanforlife And? He would have won even more with that car.
-RagingPotato- my point is saying that nascar screwed him when he in fact put up record setting numbers the following season is an absolutely ridiculous comment to make
Good video, I'd invest in a pop filter for your mic. Other than that, really good job.
Stories like this make me wonder if NASCAR will eventually come out with the Car of Forever, and electriclly powered slot car similar to the race track at Walt Disney World
#JesseKingIsTheGoat
What were the infractions? Where's any information in this video?
i don't think there were any penalties given out, since the car was only deemed illegal after the race
All the earhardt fans were mad..
Forgiveness is easier to get than permission, and even if you don't get forgiveness, at least you had fun.
Good video but smart boys finding way to screw with the official
Now we just need to figure out what kinda Frankenstein car Harvick driving in 2020
Funny seeing a really young Chad Knaus
The 'I didn't think of it first so I want it banned' trio
Chaparral 2J
Brabham Fan Car
Gordon T-Rex Car
There were similar cases in other racing series were some engineer genie found a hole in the rulebook for his teams advantage. I think one of the most prominent cases outside NASCAR was the Brabham BT46b from 1978, Nickname "the vacuum cleaner", where Gordon Murray found a unique way to solve his aerodynamically problems with a fan who wasnt a fan by the rulebook. The car made one appearance in Sweden 1978 in this configuration with Niki Lauda as driver, won easily, and never used again because all other teams protest include the thread that they dont race against this car. There were two reasons for this - first the car was anbeatable, second and maybe even bigger issue: the car took ANY lose part of the track and blown it the car behind with highspeed into the face - factually sanding everything behind. So they took the agreement to do not use it again and in the 1979 rulebook it was forbidden....
Heres a short documentary of this story: ruclips.net/video/B294RfWj1QE/видео.html
I was always interested in the "experimental" 1985 Monte Carlo SS that Greg Sacks drove to victory in the Fire Cracker 400 and the car was dominant in that race. But it was the only race the car would ever be in.
That car was soo dominate that nascar told the team to never let that car in their sight i mean the t rex
How much of racing success is attributed to driver skill compared to just having better equipment?
Its kinda crazy how it took NASCAR until 1997 to discover ground effects.
so what was the half a dozen rules changed? no one ever says what this is, why?
I live my life in the gray area
I hope that William Byron wears this paint scheme at Darlington.
That’s next week baby
As a watcher and as a first responder seeing the big wrecks at Talladega where the car will do multiple flips mid air and as engineer to some degree i am wondering how T-REX would handle and how it would set down from being in air or if it could be lifted up and if NASCAR should change the rule back and allow it but of course now Jeff cant actually experience a superspeed way in a race but just as a few laps by really himself, Jimmie and Dale Jr