Page 136 - How It Works - Book Of Amazing Answers To Curious Questions, Volume 05-15

What’s inside a NASCAR hauler?

How this 18-wheeler transports race cars and more

ver the years NASCAR has become a huge part of
American sporting culture. Founded in 1947, it now
Osanctions more than 1,200 races across America,
Canada, Mexico and Europe.
Getting the highly specialised race cars from one race to
another presents the teams with a problem. You won’t see a
race car being driven on normal roads, and since the
NASCAR races are so spread out across America, they have
to be transported in a specialised hauler to each race
venue. These haulers do much more than simply transport
the cars; they function as repair shops, restaurants,
meeting rooms, viewing platforms and storage facilities.
As every racetrack on the calendar is different, each
NASCAR team will alter the setup of their cars depending
on the conditions. This means that every car has to return
to the team’s base after each race before it can be
transported to the next. Once it gets back to base, every
single item on board the hauler is removed, before being
either cleaned or replaced and then loaded back on. This
equates to around 10,000 items – comparable to packing
and unpacking a four-bedroom house every week for 38
weeks a year. Without the haulers, the drivers would have
no feasible way of transporting their cars, and would likely
be ill-prepared for their next race.

Inside the race
shop on wheels
Discover just how much these haulers
can store inside them

Sleeper cab Fully equipped office Car bay
The front cabin has two beds Towards the front of the This level of the transporter
behind the driver and hauler is the office area, so holds two race cars, which are

passenger seats, so that the the team have somewhere to loaded using a hydraulic lift
person who isn’t driving can discuss their race strategies. gate at the back of the hauler.
get some well-earned sleep.
Top deck
On top of the hauler is a
viewing area, used to
watch the cars on the
track. It may be
equipped with scoring
monitors for statistical
analysis as well.

Generator
Each hauler has its own
generator that provides
Illustration by Nicholas Forder the parts garage. Parts garage Enormous size will match the design of the cars inside. © Dreamstime; Thinkstock
power for each section,
including the offi ce and
The back end of the hauler is
Matching design
heavily stocked with parts for
As each NASCAR hauler is team (and
Every hauler is roughly
the cars, so that they can be

fixed and fi ne-tuned before

24m (80ft) long, and can
driver) specific, the outside of the truck
weigh as much as 36tn.
the next race.
136 How It Works