Deep in the Pennsylvania mountains lies one of motorsport’s biggest secrets.
Built in the 1890s, the Laurel Hill Tunnel was one of a series of tunnels opened to accomodate the South Pennsylvania Railroad. When the railroad never opened the tunnels were abandoned. In the 1940s Laurel Hill Tunnel found new life as part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
In order to alleviate congestion on the turnpike the tunnel’s were again abandoned in the 1960s in favor of bypasses cut through the mountains.
Rumors began to circulate around 2004 that a motorsports team was using one of the abandoned tunnels for testing. As the years have gone on pictures have surfaced of the tunnel and speculation began about the team using the facility.
While the Pennsylvania Turnpike Authority has refused to name the team who uses the tunnel, through a patent and photos, it became clear that Chip Ganassi Racing was the one who gave the tunnel new life.
Referred to internally as LHT, CGR’s team of engineers use the facility as a giant moving wind tunnel for its IRL, Grand-Am and NASCAR teams.
It was initially built for straight-line testing for CGR’s IRL teams. If you don’t know, straight-line testing really is the key to success in the IRL since track testing was banned in 2004.
During straight-line testing the cars get going as fast as they can and then slow to calculate down-force and wind-resistance. The tunnel provides the team near perfect conditions for figuring this out and is widely credited with giving CGR the edge in the IRL.
While it has proven beneficial for their IRL teams, it is debatable whether it helps their NASCAR teams. Because the aerodynamics and weight of a stock car are so much different than an Indy car, straight-line testing fails to simulate real world track conditions.
From what I have heard about the testing process, the cars get going as fast as they can and then stop on a turntable at the opposite end. From there the engineers assess the data and make necessary changes; they then do it all over, again and again. The entire testing process can last for hours.
I’ve been told the testing has not been without incident either. Rumor has it there have been a few wrecks in the tunnel, which, as it turns out, isn’t perfectly straight.
Due to the secrecy of testing in the IRL, Ganassi representatives will neither confirm nor deny that such a place exists. In a USA Today interview Ganassi Indy chief Mike Hull would only say the team tested somewhere in the United States. Despite this, it is one of the most commonly known secrets in NASCAR and the IRL.
This very cool facility is not only unique in NASCAR but unique in the world of motorsports. In the era of limited testing every little advantage helps.While LHT may not be Area 51, you are about as likely to get information about it from the heads of the team as you are to get information about the fabled military testing grounds from the US Government.
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on Jan 9th, 2009 at 7:22 am
Very interesting article! With the tools at hand (like the tunnel) available to a team like Ganassi (who has had success/but not dominance in IRL and only very limited success in NASCAR) it makes one realize a few of things. NASCAR’s secret weapon in the fight against continued team dominance is to structure a point system in which to be successful in a Cup race and season, a team’s process of attack is emphasized over mechanical advantage (i.e. COT). Just as testing allows a “have” team to develop a range of mechanical adjustment quicker than the “have nots”, no one can actually fully simulate race conditions in testing where there are no “phantom debris cautions” or “bump-n-runs”. Testing gets you there quicker, but doesn’t guarantee you a race trophy. That comes from a special blend that HMS, Knaus and JJ have hit on in recent times.
With all of the shuffling of personnel within the industry, how many of these type “secrets” are exposed as a result. Seems like HMS has had minimal layoffs and might be keeping personnel tight chested for that very reason. I’m sure HMS has dedicated testing only crews equaling the likes of JGR, RF and PR pre-layoff spree.
on Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Great information!! Thank you both for taking the time and keeping us informed. You are both awesome and your time (and insight) is very much appreciated.
on Jan 9th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Very cool post!
BTW, I wish you would put the stuff that you only see when one clicks the comments back on the front page.I.E, I would’ve never seen the TNI poll “where are you from” unless I clicked on the comments.
on Jan 9th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Very interesting!
Wonder just how long that tunnel is. Getting up to 200 mph in a Indy car wont take too long, but the coasting to a stop must take forever!
on Jan 9th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Grover- When I was writing the post, I was thinking make sure you put that in there and then of course I didn’t. The tunnel is 4,541 feet. So just shy one mile.
on Jan 10th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Journo – great post!
And the pictures of the old tracks that are showing up at the top of your page are great and at the same time sad… but important for all of us to know the roots and what some of these storied tracks look like now.
Have you considered making a section dedicated to these old tracks? A lot of new fans don’t know a thing about North Wilksboro… some history and a photo album of before-after shots of these tracks would be great.
Keep up the great work!
on Jan 17th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
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