March 24, 1970 — Talladega.
Chrysler rents the track for a private transmission test. No race. No qualifying. No competitors. No radar gun. Just dozens of engineers and a stopwatch. (Oh.... and a Sweedweek film crew, NASCAR officials, Dodge Public Relations team and the President of NASCAR and track owner, Bill France)
At noon, after the track dried, Buddy Baker runs 191.985 mph in the Hemi Daytona. Not 200.
Over the next several hours, the car cycles in and out of the pits for engine and chassis adjustments. After 29 laps wothout hitting its mark, the Chrysler Test Car "DC-93" goes into the garage, for five hours and emerges at sunset. Baker finally records a 47.7732-second lap — calculated to equal 200.447 mph using a math equation:
Speed = (Distance ÷ Time) × 3600
Dodge claimed, "it was the first to lap a car at 200mph". In reality, it’s more complicated. Additionally, he didn't even average 200mph!
■THE PREMISE
By not following the entire length of the track up high in the curves, they were able to remove some of the distance traveled and cheat the speed formula.
■HERES HOW
The track is 48 feet wide with an additional 12-ft apron (60-ft wide). The entire math formula is based on Talladega’s official 2.66-mile length which was measured 15 feet from the outside wall. But drivers don’t run that line. As Richard Petty famously said, “The quickest way around a track is the shortest.” Drivers drop low in the turns. By running the inside groove through Talladega’s two 2,872-foot banked corners, Baker shortened the lap by over 200 feet. When you adjust the math for the actual distance traveled, that 200.447 mph lap drops to roughly 197.5 mph
This is how Dodge and NASCAR fooled everyone into thinking the Hemi powered Daytona was the "first car to lap at 200mph". Notice the wording they use. It doesn't say it was the first car to go 200mph on a closed course as so may sources claim. The confusing wording means that it completed a lap time equivalent to 200mph. Equivalent is the primary word here because Bakers speed was NOT recorded with a radar gun....NO....instead it was clocked with a stopwatch. This recorded his lap time which was then applied to a math equation to determine speed. The problem is that the equation only works if you input the correct data. And by manipulating the distance traveled they were able to cheat the system. The stopwatch recorded lap time — not true radar speed. The 200 mph figure was a calculated equivalent based on a measured line the car didn’t follow.
■TRACK DIMENSIONS
Talladega is a tri-oval with multiple curves, and a 4,000-ft back stretch. While the curve on the front straight is only 700-ft, complimented by two 1,800-ft long short chutes, the other two curves are 2,872.4 feet long. The tracks length is 2.66-miles which is 14,044.8-ft long
■MATH
Below is the math formula to determine speed which is normally Distance divided by Time, but since the time is in seconds and not hours, it has to be multiplied by 3,600 because that's how many seconds are in an hour.
Speed= (Distance ÷ Time) x 3600
Speed= (2.66-miles ÷ 47.7732-seconds) x 3600
Speed= (0.0556797222) × 3600
Speed= 200.447mph
The big curves are 2,872.4-ft long measured 15-ft from the outside wall and represent a half circle. This give the represented circle a circumference of 5,744.8-feet and a radius of 914.313-ft. Since the track is 48-ft wide, with the measured distance being 15-ft from the outside wall, that leaves 33-ft from the inside edge. Since Buddy Baker drove on the inside edge that subtracts 33-ft from the radius making his radius (914.313-ft — 33-ft = 881.313-ft) and the circumference 5,537.45. Half of that circumference (2,768.725-ft) represents the bottom edge if the track near the yellow line. Now subtract Buddy Bakers distance on the yellow line from the posted know distance of the track at the top outside edge 15-ft from the wall and you get 103.67-ft per curve (103.67 x 2 curves= 207.34-ft) shorter than the measured distance of the track, and this doesn't take into account the 700-ft curve on the front stretch or the 12 extra feet on the inside edge that we will assume he didn't use. So just taking into account the 207.34-ft he shaved-off, the new speed formula would be:
Distance= (2.66 miles — 207.34-ft)
Distance =(14,044.8-ft — 207.34-ft)
Distance = 13,837.46-ft which equates to 2.6207310606-miles
Speed= (Distance ÷ Time) x 3600
Speed= (2.62~-miles ÷ 47.7732-seconds) x 3600
Speed= (0.0548577667) × 3600
Speed= 197.48796012mph
■CONCLUSION
He was essentially "gifted" 3mph by the measurement system. This "automotive forensics" highlights how the Aero War wasn't just fought with wind tunnels and hemispherical headed engines, but with clever PR and track geometry. We exposed that the "200 mph barrier" was a marketing milestone while drivers like Yarborough were already hitting higher trap speeds (actual velocity at a point) in the Ford/Mercury camp.
