Define the Question
What is the main research question for this project?
Do weather conditions affect driver performance in NASCAR races?
Name one person who could be contacted with questions about NASCAR processes, race specifications, info on what it's like to race in different weather conditions.
Who is Chris Buescher?
Who are Crew Chiefs?
Who are technical experts?
Who is any professional race car driver?
Who is Jim France?
What is one way to visualize or summarize performance differences across weather types?
What is a chart (box plot, bar chart, etc.)?
What is a table (average lap times, average position after each lap, etc.)?
Fastenal and RFK racing celebrated this many years of partnership in 2025, marking one of the longest-tenured brand relationships in NASCAR.
15 years
What are some first thoughts on what race performance factors weather may affect?
Track visibility, tire grip, driver decision making, track conditions, etc.
What race performance data would be useful to collect for this research?
Lap times, number of accidents, driver finishing positions, pit stop occurrences, weather conditions, dates etc.
ANOVA or regression analysis is run on different weather types and race performance. What does a significant difference in lap times across weather types suggest?
Weather conditions likely impact driver performance.
This NASCAR driver won the Xfinity owners championship for Fastenal in 2011.
Carl Edwards
Name a question to ask Jim France about the scope of the project.
What type of solution is he looking for?
What are the current challenges?
What is the goal for the project?
Who would benefit from the insights this research provides?
What type of race aspects does he think weather affects?
Does he want us to look at all weather types? (Rain, fog, etc.)
Does he want us to look at different types of tracks?
Name a challenge in collecting weather-related race data
Weather can change during the race, weather data accuracy, weather severity variability
Name one effective format for presenting your research findings to a racing team or stakeholder
What is a power BI dashboard?
What is a PowerPoint presentation?
What is a report?
Number of different NASCAR drivers Fastenal has sponsored since its partnership with RFK Racing.
9 drivers