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January
26, 2010
NASCAR Plays Rule Change Roulette
By
Dennis Michelsen
The
Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale edition amazed us with spectacular
cars of all makes and now it is time to get ready for NASCAR
racing! Now that my drooling has ended it is time to examine
the rules changes coming up for this season. By the time we
get six races into the season the Cup car will exchange the
back wing for a spoiler. Other rule changes were announced
last week too. Whether this will lead to better racing is
to be determined at a later date. But I am left to wonder
if NASCAR is playing rule change roulette.
Spoiler
versus Wing
The
rear wing was never popular with the fans and led to Crew
Chiefs and drivers complaining that the new car was more finicky
than ever to adjust. They say it is like balancing on a razor
blade and only a select few figured it out. Now a few races
into the season NASCAR will exchange the wing for the typical
spoiler look. Once again NASCAR is building this unit to make
sure they are all equal. Initial driver reaction after the
tire test at Texas Motor Speedway suggested the new spoiler
car was very tight.
Drivers
and Crew Chiefs will adjust to the new car and eventually
we might see better racing. But with testing bans still in
place how quick will teams find the new balance? NASCAR’s
Brian France said the change was made for aesthetic reasons
as well as for performance. Who cares what these cars look
like as long as they race great? NASCAR is announcing this
change before doing a lot of testing and that could lead to
a worse handling race car in 2010.
Bigger
Restrictor Plates
NASCAR
announced that starting at Daytona they would be using a bigger
restrictor plate for the Cup series. Just last October NASCAR
reduced the size of the plates to slow the cars at Talladega
after Carl Edwards came close to flying his car into the chicken
bone section. Now NASCAR is opening up the plate to allow
more throttle response. What happened since then to slow the
cars down? NASCAR is trying to improve the racing and I am
all for that but if the bigger plate was too dangerous last
October isn’t it still too dangerous this February?
Bump
Drafting Allowed
This
promises to be the best rule change NASCAR has made in a long
time. (Yes even better than double file restarts) The new
car design lines up better than the old car and that has led
to two cars being faster than a pack of cars. Drivers will
choose their dancing partners and the racing could get crazy.
Even if this does bring cars up to that dangerous take off
speed this is a great rule change because the old rule was
impossible to referee. Bring on the shove drafting and get
ready for a wild race in the final laps!
Rule
Change Roulette
NASCAR
is loosening up the rules to crank up the excitement of NASCAR
racing right from the start at the Daytona 500. Whether these
changes will work or not only time will tell. But NASCAR should
loosen up the testing rules for 2010 so the teams can adapt
to the new spoiler quicker. NASCAR should also tinker with
changes to the front end of this car to see if a return to
a traditional valence would be better than the front splitter.
The 2010 season is here and it promises to be as exciting
following the effects of the rule changes and the racing on
the track.
NASCAR
Cup star Kyle Busch joins the Speed51 gang at 6pm ET Tuesday
night to preview Speedfest this weekend that you can also
hear on RaceTalkRadio.com on Sunday afternoon. Also on tap
Tuesday night Lori and Dennis hijack the Thunder Crew from
Mike for one more time this season.
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