The author is overly self-congratulatory I think. An article three years ago (Even though the byline date is more recent. A database update that didn't preserve timestamps? Or sneaky SEO to make it appear more relevant?) says much the same thing with more details about how the testing is done. http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/nascar/the-secre...
Considering the breadcrumbs that the author admitted to finding online, I'm realizing that the state of investigative reporting is much worse off than I previously assumed.
It's called a run down test. You accelerate to a certain speed, and then coast and the way the car slows down is where you get the data from.
It's not a new idea. Teams including Audi's Le Mans squad use it. Teams have rented the Shuttle landing facility at Cape Canaveral to do the same thing. The advantage of the Tunnel is there are less variables to contend with such as things like wind.
That's not the only thing they were doing. The article also mentions braking tests, and pulling all kinds of telemetry. These things aren't new, but being able to do all these tests and measurements on a full-sized car in a controlled environment is rather unique.
Old abandoned tunnels are cool. Racing dude bought one in PA to test his cars in a controlled environment since scale models in a test tunnel don't behave the same way as real cars driving fast. Was a big open secret, apparently recently banned by NASCAR and Indy for no good reason. Also, tunnels are cool.
