Sunday, April 24, 2022

lug nuts are a thing.... just another rule change - trickle down supply side affect - fiasco in the Menards ARCA, Camping World Truck and Xfinity Series that still use 5 lug nuts.


Left nut is missing a couple threads on the top, the right nut is in spec, unused

the supplier has suspended production of new lug nuts supplied in bulk to the teams because of material and labor shortages, rising costs and the pending loss of the huge cup market

lug nuts were originally purchased direct from the manufacturer ( KRC ) or from suppliers in large bulk box quantities (box of 250 nuts) and then prepped by the pit crews. Each nut would be inspected, run over a stud with an impact gun to clean any coating off the threads and any with damaged threads were rejected

When new supplies were plentiful, the little teams liked to buy their lug nuts directly from the Cup Teams as race-used, gathered off the Pit Lane. This saved all the prep time to clear the threads.

The Cup Teams knew that the change to larger single nut wheels was scheduled for 2022 and likely bought only the inventory that they needed to finish 2021. When lug nut production slowed, so did the inventory and when the Suppliers didn't anticipate this, they have run out and no more could be ordered.

KRC = Kluhsman Racing Components, the lug nut supplier for NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series teams  then began arbitrarily selling boxes of nuts ($600 per box of 250 nuts) with either good, or bad, or a mix of nuts that will pass the Nascar inspection for fully threaded and it's up to the pit crew to sort out the nuts - which are all the same part number, and only use the acceptable ones. 

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