@@jackwilbur9419 it's cheating because NASCAR has allotted test dates and times. Does one of the smaller teams have their own secret test tunnel? I think not. A big dollar operation probably does and how would that be fair?
The Ilmor-Mercedes engine years? Those badass super grey area engines that made way WAY more powrr than all the other indycars? Or is this a different era?
I've been exploring down that way at the abandoned Rays Hill and Sideling tunnels, unfortunately the Laurel Hill one you aren't allowed at but it's cool to know they did this stuff down there.
I worked for Nascar race teams for ten years. I took a car to this tunnel for Gannasi for testing. It was very interesting and the crew members had to be trained in rescue and wearing oxygen tanks in case of an accident during testing. It was mostly to collect data and learn about changes made to the cars.
@@SavouryLobster the tunnel had roll up doors and turn tables on each end. The doors stayed closed and the tunnel had exhaust fans drawing out exhaust fumes. The car would be set up and readied for a run, open the roll up door and exit into tunnel. The car would run through the gears at speed through the tunnel, decelerate, turn around and run back. Once the door opened and car entered the set up area, computers were hooked up and download data collected. Sensors were placed all over the car collected travels and other data. Pretty interesting set up
Ganassi's Dad, Floyd, owned Davidson Sand and Gravel and sold out for 67 million in 1990 funding Chip's racing aspirations. Chip spent months in a coma following his 1983 crash at Michigan and bought into the Pat Patrick race operation. Of course he would have access to road maintenance equipment in the Pittsburgh area to get the tunnel road back in shape for high speed runs. Also the narrator says it is in Northern PA, CORRECTION, Southwest PA, about 50 miles from south and east of Pittsburgh.
Whatever the case, Ganassi's Indy Cars are much faster than anyone else at Indianapolis. They'd have easily finished 1-2-3 if not for Dixon and Palou's pit miscues.
Correct, I’m from MD just south of this area. I was highly confused by the “Northern PA”, especially since I wouldn’t even consider Lancaster in Northern PA.
This used to be one of seven tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. All the tunnels had one lane when the PA Turnpike opened in 1940. But as travel on the Turnpike grew, traffic jams became a problem. In the late 1960s, all the tunnels were either twinned or bypassed, which was the case of the Laurel Hill Tunnel. This resulted in this becoming "the lost abandoned Turnpike tunnel", unless your name's Chip Ganassi. He brought the tunnel back to life in the early-to-mid 2000s for tests of his racecars.
I grew up near this tunnel, and actually hiked the tunnel as a kid before ganassi started testing there, I've always heard rumors about it, this is super cool to hear
Anyone else perturbed by him calling OSHA O.S.H.A? Great video other than that, but tell me you've never worked manual labor in the US without telling me haha
He also incorrectly stated the location, this is in the very south western corner of PA, less than 30 minutes from MD. Also something less important but still notable, he said wind tunnels are just stationary, but there are many wind tunnels throughout the US that have a rolling belt to replicate actual driving, as well as adjustability of air temp and density.
i live near the tunnel, theres actually 3 tunnels there in that old stretch of the pa turnpike. ive even walked through one of them, it was over a mile long. they have a service tunnel that runs above the road tunnel and they were equipped with fans on the ends to move out the exhaust from the cars. very interesting place!
It's clearly paying off because his cars were WAY FASTER than anyone else at Indianapolis. They'd have easily finished 1-2-3 if Dixon and Palou hadn't been penalized and Ericsson blew by O'Ward and Rosenquist like they spots on the fence.
Because the tunnel floods so often, Ganassi announced after he'll close it so it can be re-decorated in a Venetian motif. He'll open restaurants, small shops and bring some of his family from Italy to guide the gondolas. Expect the grand opening in the spring of 2024. More details to follow.
I live really close to the location of the tunnel and have hiked to see it multiple times whereas its a short forest hike just off the Penn Turnpike. My most recent hike I did hear noise coming from inside not of racing engines but of equipment being moved with lifts.
Just a heads up, a similar tunnel testing facility now exists in the UK called the Catesby Tunnel. It borrows a lot from the Laurel Hill tunnel, also being built on an abandoned rail tunnel, though isn't built by a race team but look to be open to testing for various clients.
I grew up and still live right by the tunnel! I remember as a little kid riding quads and dirt bikes in the tunnel. Still take a ride down around the tunnel from time to time
Mountain bikes through one of those tunnels in 91 or 92. It was quite long and slightly curved. So pitch dark that white socks would glow from the traces of phosphorus used in laundry detergent.
I worked for Chip for a few years. I spent a weekend at the LHT testing a new system we built for the test car. Back then, the team had a car specifically used for testing. That was 15 years ago. Not sure how they test today.
I knew he had a facility in the tunnel but i assumed it was a 'private' wind tunnel. Blasting cars down that skinny little tunnel is insane! That would be some great video.
Does the ex-worker know that he’s allowed to get osha involved anonymously? And if they fire him for bringing osha to the facility, the owners can go to court.
Hahaha you just fire them for other reasons.... Co own a landscaping company and let me tell you one remark about osha kiss yah job goodbye mate I'll just have another guy say you swore at him to cover my ass haha
3:47 its always cool to see the sauber f1 team windtunnel as a example for windtunnels. these tunnel and the factory is just about 5miles away from my hometown :)
As a longtime F1 fan, I was blown away when that thing debuted. It was a major factor in convincing BMW to buy them. F1 has the most advanced engineers, but often lack the creative/make-do or out of the box thinking American racing teams often display. They can do a lot more for a lot less.
Within this decade, the Turnpike commission plans to bypass the Allegheny Mountain tunnels, there are 2 of them and they are more than a mile long. Could one reason for this bypass be that there is some kind of plan for those tunnels like there is with Laurel Hill? I would not be surprised if there was.
Great story but just a plea; consider not saying "we will never know" to bookend every instance of what you don't know right now;). I am sure you did your best to research this but some day, someone will spill the beans on who was there, what they did and how much they feel they benefitted in a podcast or book. Maybe Chip himself as most others may be under an NDA. Just a minor thing - besides that, great story:)
The thing is, when OSHA is called in they are always going to find something wrong to fine you for. Nobody wants OSHA to come visit their facility for anything.
In regards to where in the state this is - it's pretty far west - almost to Pittsburgh. Laurel Hill Tunnel lies beside I-76 between Somerset, PA and Donegal, PA (The other two abandoned tunnels are muuuuch farther east between Breezewood, PA and Hustontown, PA). The Laurel Hill tunnel is roughly the same latitude as Philadelphia, so it's not really close at all to the MD border.
No biggie but it’s 41 miles from the MD border according to google maps. My Dad grew up in Reading, PA and relocated to Pittsburgh before I or my siblings where born. Used to go through the tunnel multiple times a year until the rerouted the PA Turnpike. Definitely South Western PA.
I really don't see how much data can be gleaned from 400m at 130 mph for cars that regularly go faster for farther. I'm sure they picked up something but I just don't see how it could be a huge advantage for aero
It’s obviously NOT a ‘tube’. If anything it’s a ‘half-tube’. There is NO way Manning or anyone else “climbed up the wall” or “almost drove upside down”. They never removed the MASSIVE amount of material needed to have made the tunnel a true cylindrical or concentric circle shape. Photos that you showed illustrate a flat or relatively flat road surface with the half circle shape of a normal tunnel enclosing it. This means the wall of the tunnel’s road surface is met by a nearly vertical surface that is already curving towards the center. If anything, hitting the wall would force you back towards the road surface. It’s a fascinating thing Chip did here, and maybe not legal in the truest sense of the sporting regs… but no one drove up the wall of a tunnel there.
Yes he did. Too me himself at a racing trade show. It doesn’t have to be a tube to climb the wall. His car rode up the vertical sidewall when he lost control and ended up at almost a 90 degree angle riding the wall for about 200 feet before coming back down and breaking the left front suspension and coming to rest against the opposite wall.
How did I never hear about this??? I never really thought that Chip was that dedicated to doing well. I guess he was more dedicated than I gave him credit for.
@@mabelpup8502 I had the impression that he liked racing but primarily did it as a business to make money rather than putting more emphasis on winning.
I think your assessment at the end of the video is completely wrong. This is essentially a coast down test facility indoors. Although it’s a bit dangerous when it comes clean airflow for the drivers. The information gathered is extremely important and is a huge tool for both training employees and engineers. And provides an extremely important baseline for speed
The secret is this,.. inside a mountain really any mountain is a special kind of air and "energy" how this affects the telemetry not sure, but most certainly the sensitivities of the instruments are stronger whether they were manipulating temperature or not.
I mean, being in a tunnel is like being underground, air is much cooler, so engine and tires work better. That's not a secret, that's basic physics knowledge.
Don't think there's any different energy, just the opposite. Inside a mountain would shield from any sort of interferences , instruments could be calculated more precisely, readings would be precise and repeatable. It would take a huge Air Handling system to be able to manipulate the environment inside of it though.
Isn't the tunnel unblocked now? I been thinking of riding with my dad down some old parts of Super highways that still exist so I can get good photgraphs
Ohsa lol back in 1970 I was working in a factory Ohsa came in told my Italian boss he had to fix a bunch of things, boss told him you ever come back here I'll have you fixed lol. Never saw ohsa again.
Wouldn't the tunnel have some impact on the aerodynamics since the air is more contained versus on the surface? I guess what I'm asking is being contained in a tunnel wouldn't the air perform differently since the wash off the vehicle was encapsulated somewhat. Just curious is all.
I highly doubt that Toyota F1 would have used this tunnel. They had their own windtunnel, which was state of the art back then, in Cologne, Germany. And in the days Toyota was in F1, there hasn't been any time restriction to use it or to go to any track for testing. Also a few other, smaller teams, used that facility in Cologne for developing and testing new parts.
A lot of teams have air flow testing ability, but who has one large enough to job out to aerospace and tractor manufacturers no Flys. On chip when it comes to making money
This is a very interesting subject. However you completely made it un-interesting with the cheezy lounge jazz in the background and the deadpan delivery. I am a huge race fan and motorsporst history fan, but I almost didnt make it through this. No, I do not have a RU-vid cnannel yet, but you have definitely inspired me to have one. Just do better. You can! Add some color to the story and it will start to give more life to the great subject you wanted to share. Just trying to help. Awesome content, just make it engage us!
Would have been cool had they deliberately attempted (and succeeded) to drive the car on the ceiling; kinda a Mythbusters thing after all of these years of pundits saying that it was physically possible. Imagine a car going full on Men In Black, like a bloody fighter jet. Looking at you Red Bull (this is the very kind of insanity they would try, especially considering there is a place for them to do it).
I've been waiting for someone, as in a TV show, red bull team, stuntman exhibition, ect., to pull off or at least attempt this for 20 years ever since I heard it could be done. I've envisioned it in my head to see how awesome it would be for someone to build a straight away the length of say 10 miles. To have the straightaway sort of start twisting up so that the car would eventually be running on what we would say is the ceiling. How awesome would that be
I’ve actually been through there. Being a person who loves nascar and abandoned stuff. I’m actually from PA, and biking through there is actually kinda creepy. You can’t really get far though, as you lose cell service. If you don’t know where I comes out, you will just be lost. It’s actually deemed to be haunted and stuff. Don’t know if you can still ride through there, but if you could, you should check it out.
I thought the testing limitations is on active tracks they race on. .this is private property. And not a used racetrack. If I'm wrong please enlighten me so I know better. But if it's his private property can't he test there??? Again guys if I wrong let me know
