NASCAR ready to unveil composite bodies in Xfinity Series

The project was a collaborative effort between the teams, manufacturers and sanctioning body in an effort to maintain a level playing field and contain costs over time. 

Teams will use 13 separate panels of a composite laminate blend that attach with flanges and cannot be altered to game the system.

“We had a very good team technical group that we worked with along with the entire XFINITY garage area through our team technical meetings that were monthly, and that work was unprecedented in the amount of communications that took place,” said NASCAR senior director of R&D Brett Bodine. “These panels are made of a strong composite laminate blend built to with stand the high speeds of NASCAR racing. Several body panels have security features to prevent the teams from tampering with them to gain an advantage.

“We've developed some different processes on this body, the way the flanges mount together with interlocking pieces, and externally on critical areas of the body, we have a security pattern, and these are additional tools for the officials to use through their inspection process.”

And when it comes to the eye test, fans will be unable to distinguish the current steel bodies to the flange-fit bodies. From a team standpoint, it’s will be easier to repair the bodies by simply replacing panels. 

NASCAR began the rollout by allocating one body per organization earlier this season and expect each team to have four bodies by the end of the month.

NXS teams will also have the option to run the flange-fit composite bodies at Dover International Speedway and Phoenix International Speedway in November. In 2018, the body will be optional at every track except superspeedways. NASCAR’s goal is to make the body mandatory by 2019.

Click on the images below to watch more details about the new bodies: