Template (racing)

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For other uses, see Template.

NASCAR officials are using a template to inspect Casey Atwood's 2004 Busch Series car, courtesy of the U.S. Navy

A template is a device used by NASCAR and other sanctioning bodies to check the body shape and height of racing vehicles. The template is used to check that teams have manufactured the sheet metal used in the vehicle bodies to within tight tolerances. Different templates have different tolerances (from 0.07 to 0.5 inches).

[edit] NASCAR use

NASCAR cars are checked before qualifying. There are at least 30 templates used.

There are different templates applied to each car model to make sure it resembles the factory version of the car. The differing templates have frequently caused NASCAR to tweak the templates to ensure that all makes of cars are as equal as possible. That has changed with the Car of Tomorrow. The Car of Tomorrow has a single set of templates, since it is designed to not resemble a specific street car. All makes of cars have the same specifications for their bodies.