(panting)
- Wow, I can't believe
how stoop the bank is
here at Daytona International Speedway.
- I know, it's like
the side of a mountain!
- I can't believe the cars
actually stay on this track.
We have to find out how it works.
- Okay, but how should we
start to learn about this?
- Well, first things first.
Should we try to walk up the bank
to see how steep it really is?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Let's do it!
(upbeat music)
- [Max] Whoa.
(panting)
- Uh, nevermind.
I think I'm good right here.
- Me too.
- This is hard work.
- Yeah.
- What's up guys?
- [Children] No way!
- You're Riley Herbst,
the NASCAR driver.
- [Announcer] The checkers have waved
and Herbst is the winner!
- Yes I am.
These banks are pretty steep, aren't they?
- [Children] Yeah.
- Did you know these steep banks
makes us race car drivers
go as fast as we do?
Without them, we couldn't go as fast.
- Wow, so the track has to be
like this to help the cars?
- Exactly, you guys are
gettin' the hang of it.
I gotta go get ready for my race.
But you guys will figure
out the rest on your own.
I know you can do it.
- Thanks Riley!
- Thanks Riley!
- Thanks, you got it!
- Got it!
- You got it!
- See you guys.
- [Max] Bye!
Hey everyone!
I'm Max.
- I'm Victoria!
- And I'm Yonas.
- And today we're at the world famous
Daytona International
Speedway in Daytona Beach!
- This track is so big
and has so many cool places to visit.
But, as you know,
today we're looking at one
of the most coolest aspects
of the entire raceway.
These insane banks,
they're so steep we can
hardly walk up them.
- So Riley Herbst helped us get started
but we still haven't
found out all the details.
Why is this track so steep on the turns?
- I think I have an idea!
And I think I can explain it
with the help of our good
friend, Lightning McQueen.
- Oh yeah.
- Oh yeah.
(upbeat music continues)
- Hey guys, let's so some science.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- The track at Daytona is
pretty much like a normal road
when you're along the straightaway,
but when you get to the turns
it gets really interesting.
- As the track starts to curve,
it gets more and more steep up the ground.
Most professional race tracks
have big banks on the turns
so that the race cars
don't have to slow down
as they change direction.
- But why would they have to slow down?
- Okay, well, remember
in the first Cars movie
when Lightning is
training with Doc Hudson?
- Oh yeah, when he fell
in the cactus patch?
That was funny.
- Yeah.
(patriotic music)
(engine roaring)
(wheels revving)
- Ah!
- Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
Ah!
(crashing)
Ow.
- [Max] Yeah.
(laughing)
- Right, when race cars like
Lightning move really fast,
it's hard to change
direction in a flat track.
The speed means you could spin out
so you need to the ground to push against.
- So when the track is banked
like the ones here at Daytona,
the force of pushing against the ground
helps keep the cars stable
as they make high speed
turns around the track.
- [Max] It's all that force
pulling in one direction
combined with the speed of
the race car pulling forward.
- [Yonas] The banking really
does makes the turns a breeze.
- Exactly, now you've got it.
And the steeper the bank is
the faster race cars will we able to go.
For example, here at
Daytona they're 31 degrees
at their highest point.
- [Victoria] Wow, that's
like an expert ski slope!
- Cars going around this turn
are gonna have some serious momentum.
- I thought McQueen
would love to take a
spin around this track
knowing how steep the banks are.
(rhythmic rock music)
(engine roaring)
(cheering)
- Keep it going buddy!
- That was so much fun!
- Yeah.
- And we learned so much.
There really is a lot of
science that goes into racing.
- Can you imagine Lightning
McQueen on one of those turns?
He would smoke the competition.
- And thanks to Riley
Herbst for helpin' us out.
- Yeah!
Anyway, thanks for joining us here
in Daytona International Speedway.
- See you next time.
- [Children] Bye!
- Hey Riley, do you mind
signing this for us?
- Absolutely.
- [Max] Thank you.
- Thank you!
- Thank you!
- See you guys.
- [Yonas] Bye.
- [Riley] Bye.
- Bye!
