NASCAR and the Sprint Cup Series teams got down to business for three days this week to hammer out what style of restrictor-plate racing we will see this year.
Teams hit the high banks Thursday at Daytona International Speedway and went straight to the now-common two-car draft. Speeds reached 202 mph, and it looked a lot like what we have seen the past couple of years.
NASCAR came back Friday with a larger restrictor plate and more rules designed to make it tougher to do the two-car draft. Speeds reached 206 mph during two-car drafting runs with the larger plate, but we also finally saw a session of three-wide pack racing.
As Saturday rolled around, NASCAR brought back the smaller restrictor plate and a few more rules related to air flow into the engine. The top speeds in the two-car draft reached 201 mph, but it looked like drivers had a difficult time staying hooked together for multiple laps.
Before the test started, everybody talked about how NASCAR wanted to eliminate the two-car drafts and bring back the huge packs. Well, it turns out the leaders at NASCAR don’t want to completely eliminate the two-car draft, but rather make it difficult enough so drivers only use it sparingly.
The sport got closer to a workable rules package for Speedweeks, but it could have gotten closer to taking away the two-car draft.
Almost every team will bring back a car for Speedweeks in February that is faster, has more-efficient cooling and all of the tricks teams add to the cars they are actually going to race. The teams certainly gained a lot of data this week, but a lot of that goes into making the Speedweeks cars better, not necessarily making the test car better.
All of that means the sport could still face issues about the style of racing during Speedweeks. The sport went about as far as it could on the cooling-system restrictions, but if teams come back with better cars for Speedweeks, they might still be able to do the two-car draft for at least five laps without switching.
Fans have voiced their displeasure with the two-car draft and while it does make for boring practice sessions, it isn’t going to go away completely.
One of the ideas some drivers took to NASCAR was to move the grill opening more to the left on the front of the car. That would make it nearly impossible to push another car without blowing the engine because the pushing car currently has to hang out to the right to get air to the engine.
With the grill on the left side of the car, the pushing driver wouldn’t be able to get air to the opening and would instead have to lay off the bumper.
That was probably an impractical change to make in the middle of a test, but it is something the sanctioning body could look at if it truly wanted to do away with the two-car draft.
But it doesn’t.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said on the SPEED broadcast that NASCAR wants a combination of pack racing and two-car pushing. That’s all well and good, but if teams come back to Daytona with better cars they might be able to run the two-car draft enough to not create a pack.
Hopefully NASCAR has enough of the same information the teams have to create a rules package that will accommodate any changes based on any improvements teams might make between now and Speedweeks.
As always, the Budweiser Shootout will be the race that tells us what kind of racing we will have during Speedweeks. If it’s more of the two-car draft, expect some radical last-minute rule changes.
That part, at least, wouldn’t be much different than most Februarys at Daytona.
Showing posts with label restrictor plate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restrictor plate. Show all posts
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Restrictor-plate races bring out the excitement and adrenaline of NASCAR
All of a sudden NASCAR is nearly a quarter of the way through the season. Unofficially, it already is.
Sure, there are 36 races in a season and there are still two weeks until the ninth race, but we are at the second restrictor-plate race of the year, which means it is time to take a break from the normal grind and get ready for the spectacle that is racing at Talladega.
Speedweeks at Daytona are always a great way to start the season and everybody is excited to see the close racing on such a big track, but after the Daytona 500, the talk about how great the race was and all of the media attention the winner receives dies down and restrictor-plate racing is forgotten. Until now.
Now it is time to jump into that world again where nearly the entire field has a legitimate shot to win and a huge wreck is almost guaranteed to happen, as well as a very close finish.
The start of a race at Talladega and Daytona is always filled with pent-up excitement and plenty of nerves because these are the tracks where NASCAR still seems dangerous. Either good or bad, fans know they will see something memorable happen at one of the four restrictor-plate races.
While all of the focus is on the pre-race ceremonies and all of the build up to the race, once the green flag drops, everyone’s attention goes strait to the cars on the track and it seems as though the rest of the world fades into the background.
The only time for a break in these races is after a big wreck that requires a lot of cleanup, and often a red flag. Other than that, there is hardly time to blink without fear something special will happen.
The talk about a race usually lasts for a few days into the following week, and then everybody gets geared up for the upcoming weekend, but that is not the case after races at Daytona or Talladega. No matter what happens, these races get played on all of the news shows the next few days and people debate on the aftermath for weeks, not days.
However, even the excitement from these races dies down in time, and that’s why the schedule works perfectly in this case. At each quarter pole in the season, there is a restrictor-plate race, granted the fall race at Talladega has been moved back in recent years to the halfway point of the Chase, but that one feels like the final big show of the season that is different from the general theme of that part of the year where the title contenders receive most of the attention.
Every NASCAR race is special, but the four restrictor-plate races are at another level. With the aerodynamic packages on the cars and the two-car draft, many people have said we might surpass the all-time record for lead changes in one race, which was set in this race one year ago.
Whoever misses this race is going to have to here about it for weeks to come and have to be satisfied with the highlights. But, everybody else will see the most exciting four hours of the month, if not the season.
Sure, there are 36 races in a season and there are still two weeks until the ninth race, but we are at the second restrictor-plate race of the year, which means it is time to take a break from the normal grind and get ready for the spectacle that is racing at Talladega.
Speedweeks at Daytona are always a great way to start the season and everybody is excited to see the close racing on such a big track, but after the Daytona 500, the talk about how great the race was and all of the media attention the winner receives dies down and restrictor-plate racing is forgotten. Until now.
Now it is time to jump into that world again where nearly the entire field has a legitimate shot to win and a huge wreck is almost guaranteed to happen, as well as a very close finish.
The start of a race at Talladega and Daytona is always filled with pent-up excitement and plenty of nerves because these are the tracks where NASCAR still seems dangerous. Either good or bad, fans know they will see something memorable happen at one of the four restrictor-plate races.
While all of the focus is on the pre-race ceremonies and all of the build up to the race, once the green flag drops, everyone’s attention goes strait to the cars on the track and it seems as though the rest of the world fades into the background.
The only time for a break in these races is after a big wreck that requires a lot of cleanup, and often a red flag. Other than that, there is hardly time to blink without fear something special will happen.
The talk about a race usually lasts for a few days into the following week, and then everybody gets geared up for the upcoming weekend, but that is not the case after races at Daytona or Talladega. No matter what happens, these races get played on all of the news shows the next few days and people debate on the aftermath for weeks, not days.
However, even the excitement from these races dies down in time, and that’s why the schedule works perfectly in this case. At each quarter pole in the season, there is a restrictor-plate race, granted the fall race at Talladega has been moved back in recent years to the halfway point of the Chase, but that one feels like the final big show of the season that is different from the general theme of that part of the year where the title contenders receive most of the attention.
Every NASCAR race is special, but the four restrictor-plate races are at another level. With the aerodynamic packages on the cars and the two-car draft, many people have said we might surpass the all-time record for lead changes in one race, which was set in this race one year ago.
Whoever misses this race is going to have to here about it for weeks to come and have to be satisfied with the highlights. But, everybody else will see the most exciting four hours of the month, if not the season.
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