Few can argue that the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season was one of the best in recent history. With a record number of green flag passes, first time winners and a new champion for the first time in five years, one who won the title during the last race of the season, 2011 was a season to remember.
There was some uncertainty prior to the season. NASCAR would be using ethanol for the first full season, the Chase was tweaked, again, and the points system was completely revamped. The highlights though started with the first points paying race as Trevor Bayne won a thrilling Daytona 500 in the final moments. It was an uncertain outcome until the very end and put the legendary Wood Brothers back in victory lane for the first time in decades. The 2011 Daytona 500 put NASCAR farther into the mainstream then the sport had been in years grabbing the top story in sports headlines around the world.
In April when the series headed to Talladega for the second superspeedway race of the season, the ending proved to be another thriller as Dale Earnhardt Jr., pushed Jimmie Johnson past the duo of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick at the line to tie a record for the closest finish in NASCAR history.
When the series returned to Daytona in July, David Ragan scored his first Sprint Cup series win in a race that produced an event-record 57 lead changes among a track-record 25 drivers.
Back at Talladega in October, Clint Bowyer was able to take control in the final laps and break a 34 race losing streak winning by .018 of a second.
The races at Daytona and Talladega were highlights in a season filled with highlights and record breaking moments.
NASCAR now wants to change that.
The complaints from some fans at the Daytona and Talladega races, the restrictor plate races, had to do with the tandem racing that has proved successful for drivers in the recent past. The talk began at preseason testing at Daytona and carried over to Speedweek’s.
At Talladega in the spring, NASCAR attempted a few small changes to break up the two-car duos as well as in July at Daytona. None of the changes worked, and some further changes at Talladega in the fall also proved futile as two-car tandems were still the order of the day.
NASCAR recently announced major changes that should prove to be the key to breaking up the two-car drafts. The changes include a smaller radiator with a maximum of 2 gallon capacity; a smaller overflow tank with a maximum capacity of ½ gallon. The radiator inlet will be moved up closer into the front center bumper area and a smaller rear spoiler.
The changes will no doubt force teams and drivers to rethink the two-car tandem strategy as cars will no longer have the five gallon radiator and with the inlet moved, following a car right on its bumper will prove downright hazardous as the engine cooling will be even more affected than ever before.
While the changes should succeed in breaking up the tandems at Daytona and Talladega, the question is why? With the results of the superspeedways in 2011, where was the problem to begin with? While the two-car tandems provided memorable finishes on the track, off the track they added a bit on intrigue as drivers vied to form alliances with each other. It was team against team, Hendrick Motorsports against Roush-Fenway against Richard Childress Racing.
With the new changes in effect, any type of drafting at all will be difficult at best. No matter what style it is, two-car or ten-car, drafting has always been the way to win at the superspeedways. With the latest changes however, any drafting at all may be a thing of the past. What we may end up with are single cars trying to avoid each other as they try and keep the engines from overheating and imploding. If that’s what NASCAR wants, that could very well be what they get.
Are the changes and attempt to break up the two-car tandems at Daytona and Talladega a genuine effort by NASCAR to provide better racing, or could they be pandering to a group of fans, some of whom complain about nearly everything to do with the sport? Last season’s restrictor plate races provided some of the best finishes of the season, but with the changes that will be in effect for 2012 those memorable finishes may be a thing of the past.
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