Long regarded as one of NASCAR’s most demanding braking tracks, the half-mile “paperclip” oval at Martinsville is known for frequently wearing on two things: brake systems and driver patience.
Looking to gain a decisive competitive advantage at Martinsville during the final weekend in March, all Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas will debut an entirely new Raybestos brand Short Track / Road Course Sprint Cup braking system featuring ultra lightweight calipers, increased brake pad volume and larger rotor diameter. The detailed system, which combines advanced friction technology with optimized caliper design, is the result of diligent research and continuous development between Affinia’s Global Brake & Chassis Group and JGR.
“We’ve been working for the last year and a half on this short track package,” said Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota. “It’s definitely better than what we’ve had in years past.”
The ultra-lightweight aluminum alloy six-piston calipers, developed using Raybestos technology partner Alcon’s state-of-the-art “optimized design” process, are the stiffest and lightest calipers available for short track/road course in all of NASCAR. The calipers also feature asymmetric body design and advanced between-piston and crossover cooling features.
The system’s new R602 pad shape, exclusive to the new Raybestos short track caliper, offers the largest brake pad volume (contact surface area) in all of NASCAR, providing 13% more pad volume and 5% more pad area than any other competitor’s short track package. The short track system also features the largest rotor diameter available in all of Sprint Cup (13.15” outside diameter, 1.65” thick), a 72-vane casting that reduces hot distortion of the rotor, and features a new metallurgy achieving a 35% increase in tensile strength at operating temperature.
“We’ve worked really hard on our brake package going into Martinsville,” said Steve Addington, Crew Chief for the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota. “We had troubles there last year and everything seems to be working great. He [Kyle Busch] has been happy with the brakes and really tickled to death with the package that we have going in there.”
Like all Raybestos brake pad compounds developed and dyno-tested for street use, testing and development for the new short track system was conducted at the company’s dynamometer laboratory and Friction R&D facility in Winchester, Kentucky.
