So the latest NASCAR plate race was a disappointing mix of single file racing, and really big wrecks. NASCAR has always tried to balance the speed with the racing at Daytona and Talladega, sometimes getting it... more right than others.
Let me state one thing from the start. I am one of the apparent few who likes the current Cup car (formerly COT). I think taking the cars away from the old aero blobs, with their twisted bodywork and bullet rooflines and putting top heavy, brick shaped cars in the hands of the best oval drivers in the world was a good idea.
Aerodynamics is probably the worst thing for good racing, no matter what style of racing and cars you can think of. The more a car uses aero to produce grip and speed, then the worse it will handle if you upset the air, by say putting other cars around it. Even ultra high tech F1 tried to limit the amount of aero their cars have this year and while still not great, the cars can now run nose to tail (therefore increasing the chances of overtaking) for the first time in a long time. To me the old NASCAR Cup car was too dependent on aero for its grip and handling balance and too upset by the air from other cars to race well. Apart from that the nose on the floor, silly angled hood, and twisted front had nothing to do with the basic proportions of any road sedan I have ever seen.
NASCAR has always said that the COT was meant to improve several things from the old generation car. Nobody can debate that the COT has raised the safety bar, except for the lifting off the ground issue. The fact that after the three big plate race wrecks this year the drivers have all walked away from the car, in Edwards case to then run across the finish line, proves this. The COT was also supposed to reduce costs, and the general feeling I think is that once the initial set up costs of switching to the new car were offset, the new car is cheaper for the teams as they simply do not
need as many cars as before. The last main aim for the COT was to improve the racing.
I think the reason NASCAR is coming under such attack and has so many questioning the future of racing at Daytona and Talladega is because with the COT, at these tracks, they succeeded.
Earnhardt Jr has said he thinks the cars should be un-aerodynamic boxes that are slow because of this, and then give them smaller un-restricted engines, so the drivers have more control. Am I the only one who thinks that a boxy relatively un-aerodynamic car is called, wait for it... the COT?
Earlier this year Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch both got involved in last lap, last corner wrecks at plate races. These wrecks happened because the COT succeeded in producing more overtaking. Wait for it... In both cases the driver in second, without any additional bump drafting help from the car behind, got "a run" on the leader coming out of turn 4 on the last lap. The driver in second managed to get alongside the leader and make a run to the line. The trouble is the leader in both cases blocked the run, and in doing so put themselves in the wall. If the leader had stayed in their chosen groove, and given the other driver space then we would have had 2 cases of good old fashioned Petty Vs Pearson style slingshot to the line racing. Unfortunately the drivers blocked, causing big dangerous wrecks in the process. With the greatest of respect, remember blocking is what put Dale Snr in the wall.
Anyway, giving the cars smaller restrictor plates took away the drivers ability to draft and slingshot. Taking away the bump drafting removed the only other way the drivers knew to overtake in a plate race. The end result was single file racing until somebody pulled the pin and dropped the grenade. At this point it was a one shot deal, do or die, and surprise surprise, it went wrong.
NASCAR needs to find a way to give the drivers the abilty to overtake at Daytona and Talladega, this is obvious, but to me the answer doesn't lie in changing the tracks, or the banking.
I would like to see NASCAR be bold and test a bigger restrictor plate than the one used earlier in the year. I would be surprised if the cars went much quicker, but they may have more power in reserve to use when pulling out of the draft, and therefore more response in the engine with which to actually overtake. If one car can pass another, 1 on 1, not the current and longstanding (earlier races this year aside) 42 on 1 then bump drafting will not be as necessary, and the racing will be better. You could argue that smaller engines with less power, but running unrestricted would solve a lot of problems, and not just at the two plate tracks
Maybe the aero changes made at Talladega, with the wickers on the rear wing and front were a good thing, more aero drag, bigger hole in the air, but without the BHP in reserve to overtake nothing's going to happen.
Some drivers have also said they want NASCAR to "respect" them and stop taking the ability to race away from them. Quite right too, apart from the slight blocking issue, and the dangers involved in bump drafting.
Big debate bump drafting. At the earlier plate races two cars bump drafting could actually work together and overtake or pull away from other cars. The upside was overtaking in a plate race, downside is if (when?) it goes wrong, well they don't call the wrecks "the Big One" for nothing.
As I said earlier I like the COT. I like it for its squarer, non-twisted bodywork. I like it for its vaguely road sedan basic profile. I like it for producing less downforce than the old car, and in the process giving the drivers a car they have to "get up on the wheel and drive", not just set up and hang on. I also obviously like it for its improved safety standards.
That's not to say it's perfect. As I have said, the plate race package needs work, but also the new Nationwide Series car has shown than NASCAR have worked out how to make a new generation race car look good, and at the same time give the manufacturers more scope to "individualise" the cars. Maybe in 2011 we will see the new Nationwide Series front on the Cup car, but if it were up to me I would leave the rear wing and the rest of the car basically the same so the two series have their own identity.
I am a fan of the current Cup car, and now that the teams have developed the cars, and Goodyear have developed the tyres I don't think the package is as broken as many people claim.
Oh but the Mustang and Challenger do look great!
Montoya finding his feet and showing the world that he does deserve to be there.
Sarah Moore wins the Ginetta Junior Championship. The Juniors showed that no aero, road tyres, H-pattern gearboxes, only 100 bhp and rear wheel drive, all it takes to create good racing. So on the back of a good year Ginetta announce they are bringing in a new car for 2010?!? Please Ginetta, make them look more modern if you must, but don't mess with the basics. If it isn't broken...
V8 Supercars, the last "touring car" championship using H-pattern gearboxes swap to sequential 'boxes - what a shame. I understand that I am old fashioned in thinking that part of the art of driving is in the gear change. I may also be in the minority in believing that while your average road car (Fiesta / Focus / Mondeo / etc) has an H-pattern 'box then so should a "touring car" (Falcon in Australia to carry the car link on). Only NASCAR now races on a road course with an H-pattern box, and long may they continue. Even the Ginetta Juniors are going to a sequential 'box I think.
