The reason that many men love NASCAR and Formula 1 is that the drivers push the vehicles to speeds that most of us can only dream about achieving. The thrill of overtaking the leader, the strategizing of the teams, and the blistering speeds have many men tuning into the weekly races. NASCAR is a stock-car racing sport broadcast in over 150 countries. The sanctioning company stages 1,500 races across three National series. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one of the premier racing sports since its inaugural in 1950. The 'formula' refers to the set of rules to which all participants must abide.

A season of Formula One is made up of a series of races that are known as 'Grand Prix' and are conducted all over the world on public roads and circuits built for the purpose. As in every sports culture, car racing has its own set of rules and jargon. NASCAR and Formula 1 drivers communicate in a code that hinders the competition and audience from knowing their strategy. The drivers and the pit team communicate using words that are unfamiliar to most viewers, which can be frustrating to the audience since we want to know everything that the team is planning. We've compiled a list of jargon that the racing teams use to communicate. Some of the terms on our list are standard lingo used in car racing that most people don't know.

20 Dirty Air

via Wallpaper Up

The sport of car racing involves traveling at blistering speeds. The most important ingredient to reach high speeds is the handling of the vehicle. The driver has to have full control of the vehicle at all times, as the loss of handling will result in a reduction of speed and the possibility of an accident. The pit team uses a term called 'dirty air,' which is an aerodynamic term to let the driver know that the turbulent air currents, which fast-moving cars cause, can result in a particular vehicle to lose control. Drivers avoid dirty air like the plague.

19 Drafting

via Racing News

Racecar driving involves a tremendous amount of strategy. The sport isn't all about the fastest car but the most intelligent driver. When a car engages in drafting, it can lead to some of the most fascinating action that viewers can watch on the track. Drafting is a practice where at least two cars drive almost touching nose to tail. The lead car creates a vacuum between its rear end and the nose of the trailing car, thus pulling along the car behind it.

18 Driving Into The Corner

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The best part of racing is when drivers have to maneuver their vehicles at high speeds in the corners. Some of the best overtaking action happens in the corners or as the drivers get out of a corner. When the driver tells the team that he's having problems driving into the corner, he's referring to the way that the car is performing. The car is either too tight or too loose at the point when the car enters the corner. The scenario is unfavorable for the driver, especially when the strategy the team has chosen is to enter the corners.

17 Groove

via Autoweek

Teams have figured out the best parts of the track that the driver should use to overtake the competition.

The teams use a term called 'groove,' which is slang for the best route around the racetrack, the quickest or the most efficient way around the track that the team deems for its driver.

A 'high groove' will take a car closer to the outside wall for most of the lap. The 'low groove' will take the car closer to the apron instead of the outside wall. Drivers are seeking a 'fast groove,' which changes depending on the track and weather conditions.

16 Loose

via NHMS

As we mentioned, the driver's handling of the vehicle is of paramount importance. The slightest mishandling can cause the driver to lose his position. The term 'loose' is otherwise known as 'oversteer.'

The driver will tell his pit team that the car is loose when the rear tires of the vehicle have trouble sticking in the corners.

That causes the car to fishtail, where the rear end swings outwards during turns. Depending on the team's strategy, minor fishtailing can yield a desirable effect on certain tracks. However, when the car fishtails too much, the result is devastating.

15 Round (Of Wedge)

via Nascar Racing Experience

Preparing the vehicle for the race is important. The condition that the car is in will determine the performance of the vehicle.

When the team talks to each other about 'the round of wedge,' that's a slang term for the manner in which the team makes the chassis adjustments to utilize the racecar's springs.

The team inserts a wrench into a jack bolt attached to the springs and used to tighten or loosen the amount of play in the spring. The result is the loosening or tightening up of the car's handling.

14 Short Pit

via Las Vegas Review Journal

Pit stops form a crucial part of the team's strategy. Knowing when to make a stop and how many can make the difference between winning or losing. When the team informs the driver of a short pit, it doesn't mean that the team will work harder to make the pit stop shorter than usual. The team uses the term to inform the driver of pitting well before running out of fuel and changing the tires to make up time on the leaders, thereby taking the lead once those cars need to pit. Short pitting places the car on an alternate pit cycle.

13 Side Drafting

via Autoweek

The drama that happens on the track is the most interesting part. Teams employ specific tactics to overtake the vehicle if its driver is struggling to take the lead. One of the tactics is called 'side drafting.' When the team informs the driver to side draft, he has to drive alongside the other car and 'dump' the air flow his car's nose to the other car's spoiler, causing the competitor to lose momentum. That allows the side-drifting car to pull away. Teams use this strategy on larger tracks such as the Daytona, Michigan, and Talladega.

12 Slingshot

via AZ Central

Nobody said that car racing was a sport that didn't involve shady maneuvers that teams use to win the race. One of the strategies that the pit team will tell the driver to perform is called a 'slingshot.' T

he slingshot is a maneuver that involves the car following the leader in a draft to abruptly steer around it, thus breaking the vacuum.

When the trailing vehicle breaks the vacuum of the leader, the deed provides an extra burst of speed that allows the second car to take the lead. Accidents can occur during a slingshot.

11 Tight

via Speedway Media

In the racing world, the opposite of 'loose' is 'tight.' While 'loose' involves the oversteering of the vehicle, 'tight' refers to understeering. The driver will inform the team that the car is tight when the front wheels lose their traction ahead of the rear wheels, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. When the driver is handling a tight car, he cannot make sharp enough turns; instead, the front end of the car persists toward the wall. That's a dangerous scenario that can result in the car crashing into the wall or speed reduction.

10 Happy Hour

via CNN International

After a hard day's work, even drivers should be entitled to a happy hour, although the term has nothing to do with getting time off to have a drink with the buddies. Conversely, it refers to work.

In NASCAR, 'happy hour' is a slang term that refers to the last official practice session before the race.

Happy hour usually happens the day before the race and after all qualifying and the support races that the sanctioning company has staged. Drivers would much rather spend their happy hour on the track practicing for the race than at the pub.

9 Marbles

via www.nbcsports.com

Drivers don't tolerate the mishandling of a vehicle and are quick to report the matter to their team. Passing drivers can have an adverse effect on a vehicle. When the driver informs the team of 'marbles,' he's also referring to 'loose stuff.' Marbles occur when the wind from the passing driver's vehicle has bits of rubber shaved off the tires by the dirt and gravel that it blows from the outside of a corner of the driver's vehicle. Drivers refer to the particles as 'marbles' and blame it for losing control of the vehicle. That's when the drivers lose their marbles.

8 Stickers

via Sporting News

It seems that racecar drivers aren't content with stating the obvious; instead, they've invented a slang term for regular objects. One of the most important parts of a vehicle is the tires. Good tires can make the difference between the driver losing or winning the race. The traction of the tires determines the handling.

When a driver needs new tires, he'll refrain from saying that he needs news tires; instead, he'll refer to a term called 'stickers.'

Drivers derived the term from the manufacturer's stickers affixed to each new tire's contact surface.

7 Wave Around

via Onelapdown.net

Every sport has its terms that are different from other sports, and the racing world isn't an exception. One of the terms used in NASCAR is 'wave around.' In a wave around, cars can take a wave around when there's one to go under caution and the pace car has switched its lights off. Wave-around cars aren't allowed to go into the pit until the green flag comes out back again and the race resumes. Cars that are regarded as wave-around restart at the rear of the field but positioned in front of penalized cars.

6 Backmarker

via F1 metrics

In every sport, there's a winner and a loser. Some cars are so slow that you'll find the driver in the last position most of the time and with his head in his palms. One of the terms that a driver doesn't want to be labeled as is a 'backmarker.' The term hints at the meaning. A backmarker is always behind the pack. The racing world refers to the slower car, usually in the process of being overlapped by the leader, as the backmarker. The term is sometimes derogatory, not to mention, shameful.

5 Box Box Box

via Red Bull Racing

When you watch F1, you'll often hear the pit team shouting to the driver "box, box, box." The area in front of the team's garage designated for the car to stop is called a 'pit box.'

When the team feels that the driver should make a pit stop, they yell "pit this lap" or "box this lap."

When the team has noticed an urgent matter on the car that they need to attend to immediately, the engineer will shout to the driver "box, box, box," to indicate to him that he needs to make an emergency pit stop.

4 First Or Worst

via Native Customs

Drag racing has gained eminence throughout the years, especially after the debut of the Fast and Furious movies. The term 'first or worst' refers to when both drivers committed a foul, but the driver who committed the first foul loses unless it's two distinguishable fouls. In that case, the driver who committed the worst foul of the two drivers is considered the loser. In drag racing, a foul start is worse than a breakout. If one driver commits a foul start but the opponent crosses the boundary line, the driver who commits the red light wins.

3 Installation Lap

via racefans.net

Engineers and the rest of the team work prolonged hours to ensure that the car can perform at its optimal level. The team tests the car several times to ensure that there's nothing wrong with any of the components, as well as to see the changes they can make to the vehicle to make it perform better. A naked eye cannot always reveal everything that the team needs to make decisions. An installation lap can take place in practice or during qualifying, which the team uses to gain data and telemetry, rather than to set a competitive time.

2 Mickey Mouse Corner

via SB Nation

Most people use the term 'Mickey Mouse' when they're poking fun at something. The same applies to the sport of car racing. The team or the driver will refer to a corner as 'Mickey Mouse' when they feel that the corner or a series of corners on a circuit is poorly designed, slow, uncompetitive, uninteresting, and difficult to overtake through, which detracts from the challenge of the course. When teams construe the entire course poorly designed, it refers to it as a 'Mickey Mouse Track.' Maybe Schumacher felt that way about some tracks, considering his numerous wins.

1 Blistering

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We've mentioned that tires form an integral part of the vehicle that can make the difference between winning or losing the race. The way marbles have a negative effect on the tires of the car, so does the result of 'blistering.' Drivers will use the term as a result of tires overheating. The heat causes the rubber to soften and break away in chunks. Sometimes, the damage to the tires can be so severe that drivers lose control of the vehicles and crash. At the least, blistering slows down the speed of the vehicle.

Sources: nascar.com