USA TODAY International Edition
New aero packages might foster competition
Increased passing, lead changes is goal of measure
The “little wrinkle” was foremost in the mind of Chevrolet Sprint Cup program manager Alba Colon even as Cup teams completed final preparations Saturday for the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
NASCAR vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell had telegraphed last week during an interview in England that the series was considering implementing new aerodynamic packages, he said, to “kind of cater it to certain tracks,” depending on their size and level of downforce required. NASCAR conducted a teleconference Monday to inform teams of its intentions to take measures to stoke competition, proposing ideas without offering final decisions.
The series has acted unilaterally but found a mostly accommodating garage, partly because the series wields great power, partly because many stakeholders consider the “show” stagnant. A prevailing question is whether there is sufficient time in the middle of a season to perfect the next adjustment.
“There has to be,” Colon told USA TODAY Sports. “If you ask an engineer, there is never enough data. That is our philosophy. But that’s the beauty. You get a problem thrown at you, and you have to make it work, whatever it takes. It’s just part of the game, you know?”
Richard Petty Motorsports director of operations Sammy Johns said he had been pleased with NASCAR’s level of interaction and agreed that some sort of change must be made.
“We need to have more passing. We need to have more lead changes,” Johns told USA TODAY Sports. “I think that’s what fans want to see, racing close together and passing each other for the lead, not one person leading every lap and checking out. I think that’s when they get bored with the race.”
NASCAR could in essence test a new aerodynamics package that would decrease downforce at the July 11 race at Kentucky Speedway, the type of 1.5- mile track that makes up much of the schedule. That package could be deployed for the remainder of the season or be shelved totally or until 2016. Colon said Chevrolet had not been informed of a final decision.
The series could, as O’Donnell posited in his radio interview, mandate different rules for different styles of tracks, beginning immediately or later.
Colon said NASCAR offered teams and manufacturers data on potential packages that are already being tested through computer simulation.
“Don’t forget this isn’t the first time this has happened, maybe not at this level, but we just have to stop and say, ‘ What do we need to do now?’ ” Colon said. “NASCAR proposed some numbers, and that’s what we are working on, plus other ideas. Everybody is working on that.”
Colon said some of the proposals were studied or tested at Michigan last year as the series devised the current aero package that reduced horsepower and downforce from 2014.
Still, the lack of concrete plans has been a lot to digest and sent engineers fond of verifiable solutions scurrying to simulation models and wind tunnels. The problem, team owner Jack Roush said, is there might not be enough time to determine if this latest attempt to salve competition is prudent or economical.
“There’s not enough wind- tunnel capacity to support all the teams doing that, and there’s not enough money to fund it,” Roush told USA TODAY Sports. “The idea of having more than one aero package at unrestricted tracks and one for restricted would be, to my way of thinking, unreasonable.”
Roush, whose team continues to struggle even after addressing admitted engineering mistakes in recent seasons, is also concerned about the process that will determine NASCAR’s eventual decision- making.
“Kentucky is a different deal because it’s either a one- off, then 2016 or it’s the rest of the year,” he said. “But it doesn’t bode to having different aero packages at different tracks for the rest of the year.
“I think if they wind up getting good reviews on social media, I think it might be for the rest of the year. They’ve got an interest in making it as good as it can be, as exciting as it can be, for the fans, and to that end they make a lot of moves that are different than what you would expect based on where NASCAR has been and where the competitors would like to go.”
Though drivers from all three manufacturers have at times been critical of the current setup, Chevrolet has maintained its primacy in the series with nine wins in 14 events this season and holds 10 of 16 Chase for the Sprint Cup berths entering Sunday. Colon, therefore, finds herself at the junction of competition and entertainment, with the newest puzzle being winning in a manner the viewing public or series finds more palatable.
“We all need the sport to be healthy,” she said. “We need people coming to watch races, buying products, buying our cars. We need it to be healthy. My part of the job is just to be sure I have enough drivers in that top 16 and enough wins and a driver championship and a manufacturer championship.
“Yes, nobody likes a wrinkle in the middle of season. I have been like, ‘ What do you mean? What are you going to do?’ But you know what, if that is what is going to happen, let’s go win that race, too.”