#5 - Bob Williams

As we enter the shop of the Turtle Wax #5 on April 21, 2005 it is apparent the
crew is actively working on the final stages of the rebuilding process.
It may look like just a bunch of roll bars and frame but closer inspection
of the following pictures shows how much detail goes into the restructuring
process during the preseason. With plumb lines everywhere and angle iron
attached by measuring tapes it is very apparent a lot of geometry is being
worked on to get the car set up correctly. Even computer software
is utilized to get everything just right.
The geometry board. A nightmare of lines and angles, unless you know what you are doing. Rollcenters, percentages and ............. Lets hope this works! New protection panels put into the drivers side of the #5 Turtle Wax WESCAR
With less than a month away one would wonder
whether the #5 team will be ready for the May 14th opening race let alone a
pre-season publicity shot. The crew says they will be ready, all they have to
do now is just bolt on the tires, fenders, motor, brakes........
You get the idea!
How much fuel do you need to do 100 Laps? That new fuel cell should hold more than enough, and safely too with a impact resistant bladder inside. Note the plumb line. They are everywhere on this car. See anything special in this picture, it may be small, but it may prove very significant.
Take a close look at the following photos, there is much
more to building a WESCAR racecar than choosing tires and a
paint/decal package.
Safety always first in WESCAR racing. Look closely at the roll cage built to protect the driver, triangular braces give the needed strength. Note the two gauges lower left for helping when adjusting the brake bias from front to rear. Quiz time. If you are loose into a turn, more or less rear brake? Which will help if at all?
Tie rod adjustments, upper control arms, lower control arms, so many adjustments, so little time!
See you at the track May 14th.
Then and only then will ALL the crews find out if they did it right
in the 7 months of off season.

Doug Waller

Click Here For Team Details

Camber Caster guage. This is so cool and easy to use!
Here the new fire extinguishing system can be seen on the lower left in the #5 WESCAR. Safety first! Warren Bergman setting up the necessary items to check the wheelbase length and toe-in. Wheelbase 128+/- More tape measures in use in this shop than on a residential construction site. See the level hiding behind the clamp
Computer software accepts a multitude of factors from the racecar chassis before being able to provide useful information to the crew for setup. Brake discs from a LARGE north american family sedan are the norm. More reason why they are called STOCKCARS! The only difference is the brakes on these cars often require new pads after a few races rather than after 50,000miles.