When Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 crew chief Adam Stevens sends out driver Christopher Bell for the beginning of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday at Daytona, he’ll do not know what to anticipate, nor any thought of the place his driver ought to run approaching Flip 1.
All the pieces is a digital unknown.
“That is going to be whole chaos and calamity,” Stevens instructed Motorsport.com after the race at New Hampshire. “I am undecided the place the secure place will probably be (on) Flip 1, Lap 1. It is likely to be useless final and 30 automobile lengths again. No person has any thought how (the automobiles are) going to deal with as soon as they stand up to full pace. It may be one thing.”
Why the unknown?
Within the identify of eliminating gas saving ways and the lack to move in these automobiles as a consequence of their inherent dragginess, NASCAR shortened the rear spoiler from 7” to 4” and decreased horsepower from 510 to 465.
Nonetheless, the race weekend is not going to function any observe periods for drivers to get a really feel for what to anticipate when positioned right into a pack racing atmosphere.
“Everyone seems to be in the identical boat on this,” mentioned Daniel Suarez throughout a media availability over the weekend. “All people is aware of what now we have on paper however no one actually is aware of the way it’s going to play out.”
His Spire teammate Carson Hocevar says he likes it.
“There’s no sim or information or something,” Hocevar mentioned throughout his media session. “It’s important to simply go on the market and adapt. We’re going to need to strive every little thing because the race performs out and see how the automobile reacts.”
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Talking on his Actions Detrimental podcast this week, Denny Hamlin mentioned there’s the potential for explosive racing in each good methods and unhealthy.
“I feel this weekend has potential to be absolute chaos,” mentioned Hamlin. “Simply from the phrases I’m getting and the info I’m seeing on this new package deal, I feel the automobiles may very well be way more uncontrolled once they’re attempting to push one another, which might trigger smoke.
“And when there’s smoke, there’s a wreck.”
However, Hamlin does imagine that making the automobiles much less slowed down in visitors will create passing alternatives. Hamlin believes he might win on Saturday the way in which he used to on superspeedway races by deliberately lagging again, lacking the massive crashes, and making all of his passes within the closing laps.
That simply wasn’t potential within the first 4 years of the NextGen automobile.
“So, earlier than we had Subsequent-Gen superspeedway racing, I used to not care about levels, and I might simply trip and trip,” Hamlin mentioned. “There can be massive previous wrecks. I’d miss them after which I might go race, and we’d go win.
“I catch a variety of flak about, man, for 70 % of this race, ‘You’re placing round within the again and attempting to overlook wrecks.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, however I feel that’s the most effective technique for me.’
“I feel particularly this week, it may very well be technique as a result of I do suppose the power to go from the again to the entrance will probably be simpler than years previous. And factors don’t matter. Levels don’t matter.”
Joey Logano thinks there’s a component of traditional Daytona and Talladega racing coming again with this package deal too.
“I’m assuming it’s going to look extra just like the previous Daytona years in the past earlier than they repaved it – just a little bit extra that path,” Logano mentioned. “Or like Atlanta, the place dealing with goes to come back into play to some extent. I simply don’t know at what level within the run does that occur.
“Are we packed up for the primary 10 and then you definately begin to see the cream rise to the highest? You begin to see the most effective automobiles begin to transfer their method by the sector. I don’t know. Perhaps.”
Crew chief of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5, Cliff Daniels, believes qualifying speeds will probably be up and expects that can assist the racing within the pack too.
“Hopefully we’re not fairly as caught when the tempo of the pack picks up as a result of to be sincere with you, I do know it is actually troublesome to observe the saving gas racing, however then as soon as the tempo of the pack does choose up, it has been actually laborious to get a run and get one other lane transferring and generate that power,” Daniels instructed Motorsports over the weekend. “So I feel on paper, this can be a logical step to strive.
“Hopefully, that can permit guys to simply construct extra of the power and construct extra runs and we get to see extra simply mixing up throughout the pack. If that occurs, I feel it should make for a extremely good race.”
All instructed, Hamlin simply needs NASCAR would have given them observe.
“That’s going to be scary,” he mentioned. “I imply, I’m not a observe proponent however that is one the place I might not thoughts NASCAR saying, ‘You recognize what, let’s simply do 20 minutes, guys.’ “All we have to do is simply get on the market with three or 4 automobiles, get shut to one another to determine what we received. However I feel typically that factor of shock, I feel it’s two-fold.”
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