NASCAR knows fans are not fans of tandem racing at high speeds. Ever since crafty drivers discovered that they could go faster by locking bumpers so-to-speak on the long ovals of Talladega and Daytona, fans have complained.
NASCAR didn’t want to be dictatorial in their desire to eliminate tandem racing, so they worked on grille openings and lowered rear bumpers. The objective was to have extended tandem racing to cause overheating and they believe they have accomplished that.
Fans should see mostly pack racing at the Daytona 500.
Courtesy of NASCAR Wire Service:
LAST TANGO AT DAYTONA?
NASCAR fans spoke loudly. More than 80 percent of fans polled by NASCAR either hated the two-car drafts at Daytona or said they preferred pack drafting to the tandems.
In mid-January testing at Daytona, NASCAR instituted rule changes designed to break up sustained two-car hookups. The efforts didn't stop there.
When the cars return to Daytona next week, the grille openings will be higher on the front bumper and the rear bumpers will be extended down two inches. NASCAR determined that cars were still able to get airflow to the grille from underneath the lead car and took measures to counteract that.
"Our goal was not to eliminate the two-car pushes," Darby said. "Our goal was to change the look of the race back to more of a conventional drafting but not to take away the tool of the two-car draft."
If NASCAR and its fans get their wish, which seems likely, you'll see a lot more conventional pack drafting in the Daytona 500. But the race is likely to be won with a two-car push, whether it's one car pushing another to the win or one car trying to slingshot past another as they approach the finish, as Clint Bowyer did to Jeff Burton at Talladega last October.
Six major NASCAR tracks are within a day's drive of Tampa. Great destinations justify journeys.
Here the NASCAR venue is considered local if tracks are within a 10 hour drive from Tampa—Daytona International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of motorsports topics by Dwight Drum at Racetake.com. Information and quotes derived from motorsports industry press releases.
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