As soon as once more, a common theme of the Daytona 500 and superspeedway racing with the NextGen automobile generally proper now, is the period of time drivers spend at half-throttle below inexperienced flag circumstances.
The explanation they do it’s because it’s extremely tough to move with the present technology automobile on these tracks when everyone seems to be racing at full throttle. The automobiles are too equal and there may be a lot drag that any try to tug out of line is a momentum killer.
With that in thoughts, the easiest way to get monitor place is for drivers to burn as little gas as attainable in relation to the competitors, as a result of which means spending much less time on pit street. If drivers can’t move on the monitor, the purpose is to make as many passes on pit street.
This has been the case for the reason that creation of this automobile on superspeedways and the frustrations are reaching a fever pitch. Earlier within the week, NASCAR officers concluded ‘what are we attempting to repair’ since gas saving produces three and four-wide visuals however the racing on Sunday did little to alter hearts and minds.
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To wit, race successful group proprietor and present driver Denny Hamlin says drivers and NASCAR have mentioned, casually, an experiment utilizing a return to Daytona with the pre-season Conflict utilizing an experimental guidelines package deal.
“There is a means, however we’ll have to extend the speeds by quite a bit,” Hamlin mentioned throughout the post-race press convention. “You are going to should make it to the place dealing with issues. That is going to unfold (out) the sector. That is going to make it to the place we’re not — it will look a little bit extra like racing from the previous.
“However so long as their insurance coverage firm is okay with it, you are going to have to hurry up the automobiles as a result of proper now we’re so planted within the racetrack that we are able to simply run on this actually tight pack.
“One of many ideas that we talked about just some days in the past is come right here subsequent 12 months within the Conflict. Let a couple of of us provide you with a package deal that we expect you will not see any gas saving — you are simply going to see individuals hanging on. That will be the one repair.”
After the press convention ended, Motorsport.com requested Hamlin what he meant by that.
“Taking away spoiler and slowing us down within the corners,” Hamlin mentioned after a pause. “Extra raise. We’d like extra lifting.”
Successfully, this could make the course extra akin to the races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is the place the Cup Sequence will go subsequent. The intermediate monitor obtained a reconfiguration in 2022 within the type of elevated banking however the brand new pavement has aged shortly and produced a product more and more much like basic superspeedway racing.
Regardless of preliminary pushback from drivers in regards to the idea in 2021, they’ve really come round on the monitor lately because the pavement has aged.
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