Daytona 500 and the Lola Indycar Design

The 2010 Daytona 500 has been and gone and what a race it was.

Lots of lead changes, drivers racing for themselves and not just "cruising" round unable to break the draft, the most physical Daytona race in a long time, three G-W-C attempts and a great charge from the 88 to raise the excitement level at the very end.

The drivers rewarded NASCARs confidence in them with the relaxed rule changes, largest ever restrictor plates, and the new G-W-C rule by providing the fans with a good race.  

A GOOD RACE!!

The argument for resurfacing Daytona is now much stronger than it was prior to Speedweeks thanks to the lengthy repair saga mid-race. The track officials have apologised for the lengthy delays (I am being polite). We all know the track will be working overtime to ensure that when NASCAR return to the track they know how to deal with the situation and will be able to carry out repairs much more efficiently if the need arises.

So do you, as it has been put, patch or repave?? In reality it looks like the track needs to be repaved as it is very bumpy and obviously has some issues, however be careful. At the moment Daytona is the "handling" track, while Talladega is the "speed" track of the restrictor plate world, with 'Dega being smooth and just plain fast. I would not want to mess with this balance. When Darlington was repaved the owners tried very hard to maintain the surface characteristics, its grip  and wear levels, with the new surface keeping as many of the same characteristics that made the track what is was. If they are to repave Daytona I hope they make it smoother but keep the surface as in keeping with what they have now as they can. Do not change the surface, just refresh it.

It is common knowledge that I am a fan of the COT, and am not offended by the rear wing. If I was NASCAR I would not change the restrictor plate package this year. If they are going to introduce the spoiler back into Cup then fine, but keep the wing and the wicker and the large plate at this years 3 remaining plate races. If the 500 was anything to go by the package is not broken, so for this season, don't try to fix it.

Will the 500 give us a good idea of who will be at the top of the Chase at the end of the year, probably not as restrictor plate races have always had a mind of their own and the 500 doubly-so! I hope drivers like McMurray, Allmendinger, Earnhardt, Biffle, Bowyer, and Kahne can maintain the form shown at the weekend. This year could do with some different names doing well week in, week out.

Lastly, Lola have now released images of their proposed new for 2006 Indycar. Sorry 2012.  It is another evolutionary design which focuses on a standard centre with what appears to be two different interchangeable aero packages and the same centre for the Indycar Series as IndyLights. The idea of keeping common items between the lower IndyLights and the top Indycar Series is a good one as it should keep costs down and safety standards up, but surely the talents at Lola could come up with something a bit more exciting that a rehash of the existing cars.

I know I am on my own but I still fancy developing the DeltaWing!