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While many NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers bemoaned the reduced amount of downforce, on the Gen 6 cars at the Daytona tests, almost the opposite was true for last week's abbreviated one day test at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
For Daytona's high banked 2.5 mile oval the rear spoiler was limited to 4 inches high by 53 inches wide. Also the bumper configurations were changed to make bump drafting a lot more difficult as was seen when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took out Marcos Ambrose and over a dozen other cars in practice.
For the Charlotte 1.5 mile oval NASCAR permitted the rear spoiler to be 7.25 inches high by 61 inches wide which produced much more downforce than the Restrictor Plate (or Super Speedway) cars do.
Overall, the Gen-6 car will be 2.3 inches shorter (196.2 inches), three inches wider (77 inches) and 150 pounds lighter compared to the 2012 version. Right-side weight on the car is 1,620 pounds and the left-side weight is 1,680 pounds for a total of 3,300 pounds. The balance on the 2012 car was 1,700 pounds on the right and 1,750 on the left side (3,450 pounds).
One industry insider estimated that the “downforce” track car produces almost double the amount of downforce as the “super speedway” car.
And veteran Jeff Burton explained: “at the end of the day, the better the cars are stuck in the race track, the closer the cars run to each other... Especially on big tracks, the better the grip is, the closer the action can be."
"I believe that more grip gives the drivers more opportunity to put their car in a position that they wouldn't be able to put it, if they didn't have that grip," Burton said. "That's why I think the racing is going to be better."
Only nothing happens in a vacuum. The “downforce track” spoiler is so tall that drivers complain about the lack of visibility.
"They need to do something about this spoiler. It sucks," said Matt Kenseth who joined Joe Gibbs Racing after a long association with Fenwway Roush Racing.
Another change for this year is the use of the clear plastic Lexan on the rails or fins on the “C” pillars along the rear deck lid. Some suggest a Lexan rear spoiler but the sanctioning body is concerned that it that the lexan spoilers invisible to the fans who are want spoilers on the rear deck lids as opposed to wings which originally were required on the previous generation of stock car racers.
One suggestion was a rear spoiler which would be lexan on the top half, but, NASCAR officials haven't decided to make any changes at this time.
For Daytona's high banked 2.5 mile oval the rear spoiler was limited to 4 inches high by 53 inches wide. Also the bumper configurations were changed to make bump drafting a lot more difficult as was seen when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took out Marcos Ambrose and over a dozen other cars in practice.
For the Charlotte 1.5 mile oval NASCAR permitted the rear spoiler to be 7.25 inches high by 61 inches wide which produced much more downforce than the Restrictor Plate (or Super Speedway) cars do.
Overall, the Gen-6 car will be 2.3 inches shorter (196.2 inches), three inches wider (77 inches) and 150 pounds lighter compared to the 2012 version. Right-side weight on the car is 1,620 pounds and the left-side weight is 1,680 pounds for a total of 3,300 pounds. The balance on the 2012 car was 1,700 pounds on the right and 1,750 on the left side (3,450 pounds).
One industry insider estimated that the “downforce” track car produces almost double the amount of downforce as the “super speedway” car.
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| Jeff Burton. (Photo: Getty for NASCAR) |
And veteran Jeff Burton explained: “at the end of the day, the better the cars are stuck in the race track, the closer the cars run to each other... Especially on big tracks, the better the grip is, the closer the action can be."
"I believe that more grip gives the drivers more opportunity to put their car in a position that they wouldn't be able to put it, if they didn't have that grip," Burton said. "That's why I think the racing is going to be better."
Only nothing happens in a vacuum. The “downforce track” spoiler is so tall that drivers complain about the lack of visibility.
"They need to do something about this spoiler. It sucks," said Matt Kenseth who joined Joe Gibbs Racing after a long association with Fenwway Roush Racing.
Another change for this year is the use of the clear plastic Lexan on the rails or fins on the “C” pillars along the rear deck lid. Some suggest a Lexan rear spoiler but the sanctioning body is concerned that it that the lexan spoilers invisible to the fans who are want spoilers on the rear deck lids as opposed to wings which originally were required on the previous generation of stock car racers.
One suggestion was a rear spoiler which would be lexan on the top half, but, NASCAR officials haven't decided to make any changes at this time.