COMMENTARY: Why Tungsten Matters

Elliott (L) before the fall

For approximately 30 minutes Sunday night, Chase Elliott was the undisputed king of short track stock car racing.

Elliott, son of former NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott and himself an insanely talented wheel man, became the first driver in history to win the prestigious Snowball Derby at Florida’s Five Flags Speedway, after prevailing in the previous day’s Snowflake 100 Pro Late Model event.

And then, it all came apart.

A post-race technical inspection revealed a piece of tungsten ballast attached to the chassis of Elliott’s machine, and with tungsten expressly prohibited in the Snowball Derby rules -- in BOLD FACE TYPE – the violation cost Elliott both his trophy and $20,000 winner’s purse.

The disqualification triggered an immediate firestorm of controversy, with some observers questioning whether the infraction was serious enough to warrant stripping Elliott of the win. Others rode to the young driver’s defense, saying he likely had no knowledge of the illegal ballast and supporting his claim that the violation was little more than an oversight.

None of that matters to me, and here’s why.

In racing, some things are illegal because they give a performance advantage. Some are illegal because they are too costly. Some are illegal because they compromise safety. No matter what, they're all illegal, and in my opinion, that should be the end of the story.

The offending tungsten. (Speed51.com)

I don’t buy the whole, "it was illegal, but it didn't give me an advantage" argument, and neither should you. It's a cheap cop-out used by guys who have just gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar. The argument that tungsten ballast offers no competitive advantage is also ludicrous, on a number of counts.

In many race cars, ballast is inserted into chassis frame rails in blocks that are approximately 2 5/8 inches x 3 5/8 inches. In that configuration, a 25- pound block of tungsten measures approximately 3.75″ long, while 25 pounds of lead is nearly 6.5″ long. Concentrating more weight in less space allows more precise chassis adjustment, and in a division where left-side weight percentage is regulated with a fine-toothed comb, there is no such thing as an inconsequential  advantage. Roll center and center of gravity can also be more precisely set with tungsten than lead, giving teams even more of a handling edge. 

If it truly offers no competitive edge, why would NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams with unlimited budgets spend thousands of dollars on tungsten ballast? Clearly, they understand that there’s something important to be gained. If it wasn’t better, it would not have been on Chase Elliott’s car. Bet on that.

Here’s another point to ponder.

Racers fail post-race inspections all the time, for a wide variety of reasons. Some of infractions are fairly minor, while others are more blatant. Each of those nefarious deeds, however, was undertaken for one simple reason: to make the race car faster.

Not fancy, just effective.

When was the last time you heard of someone getting caught doing something illegal that made their car worse? Never, that’s when! And there’s a good reason for that.

I was not at Five Flags Speedway Sunday, and I know little or nothing about the specifics of Chase Elliott’s violation. But I'll bet dollars against donuts that the tungsten ballast in question was mounted low and to the left, rather than high and right. It was mounted there for a reason, and it did what it was intended to do. Big advantage or small, nothing on these race cars happens by mistake.

Some argue that in a Snowball Derby pit filled with $200,000 transporters, a few thousand dollars in tungsten is hardly the end of the world. That may be true, but not one of those high-dollar Toterhomes ever won a race. It may make its owner more comfortable getting to the track, but it does nothing once the green flag flies.

Teams don't need a fancy hauler to compete. My Super Late Model team gets to the track in a modest, 24-foot box trailer pulled by a Ford F350 dually. It’s nothing fancy, but it gets us where we’re going every week, while leaving us a little more money to spend on our race car.

The problem with a high-buck item like tungsten is that once somebody has it, everybody’s got to have it if they hope to keep up. If I suddenly have to spend $20,000 on ballast for my race car -- instead of melting down used wheel weights from the tire store -- it's going to dramatically hasten my exit from the sport.

Nobody can prevent a rich man from spending his own money. But race tracks and sanctioning bodies can -- and should -- prevent him from spending his money in ways that diminish competition or break the rules.  Elliott’s car had an advantage, and it was illegal.

It’s as simple as that.