The Underground Man

Drafting at Daytona and social cooperation

Watching the Daytona 500 today I was reminded that I came across an article not so long ago on social cooperation and how the groups of cars work cooperatively (drafting one another) in order to gain an advantage during the race. In fact, they will work together for long periods of time until the last couple of laps (sometimes until the very end) in order to ensure that they keep their advantage. This article by David Ronfeldt says it very well:

This provides a curious laboratory for several social science theories: (1) complexity theory, since the racers self-organize into structures that oscillate between order and chaos; (2) social network analysis, since draft lines are line networks whose organization depends on a driver's social capital as well as his human capital; and (3) game theory, since racers face a "prisoner's dilemma" in seeking drafting partners who will not defect and leave them stranded.

I'm not a big NASCAR fan (I prefer races in which the cars have to go right as well as left) but it was fun to watch this with game theory in mind.

Of course, it gets even more complex when one throws personalities in and the results of past races. Unlike the IROC series, these drivers have contact with the pits and so negotiations can go on between pit crews as well as implicitly between the drivers.

Posted by artandscience at February 15, 2004 04:59 PM