NASCAR allowing drivers to trade paint at Daytona and Talladega

NASCAR will allow drivers to “have at it” during next month’s Daytona 500.

The sanctioning body will eliminate the no-bumping rule at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, a move widely applauded to help return stock-car racing back to its rough-and-tumble roots, NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton said Thursday.

By telling drivers they can “have at it,” Pemberton made official a change that’s been expected for weeks.

“It’s time for us to allow the drivers to drive,” said NASCAR chairman Brian France. “We don’t want the rules and regulations to get in the way of great racing and fantastic finishes.

“NASCAR is a contact sport. Our sport is based on banging fenders.”

The sanctioning body outlawed the practice of ramming a lead car from behind in the turns to generate more speed at Daytona and Talladega, the only tracks that, for safety reasons, require the use of a speed-reducing restrictor plates. Drivers insisted the no bump-drafting zones kept them from making passes.

The Sprint Cup Series also said it quickly will do away with the rear wing and replace it with the traditional spoiler, probably as soon as the second month of the season. That move was to enhance competition, too, Pemberton said.

Also, the size of the holes in restrictor plates will be increased at Daytona to give drivers more speed and throttle response to make passes.

NASCAR considered the elimination of the yellow out-of-bounds line that separates the banking from the apron at Daytona and Talladega, but decided to keep it in play. That will keep drivers from driving off the race course to make passes.

Overall, everyone seemed to be happy with the changes — and NASCAR’s continued moves make racing more about the driver than an advanced car and rules.

“I don’t like to go down the corner, turn the wheel, find out how great my engineers are or aren’t,” Carl Edwards said. “That’s not what I want to do in a race car. I want to go drive.”

Robin Braig and Ricky Humphrey, track presidents at Daytona and Talladega, respectively, love the prospects of a no-holds-barred race.

“We applaud NASCAR for listening to the race fans,” Braig said.

“NASCAR’s decision to put the race back in the hands of the drivers is sure to have a positive impact on the competition and excitement race fans experience at Talladega Superspeedway,” Humphrey said.

Pemberton said drivers will have to police themselves on the track. Now that everyone knows paybacks are probable and allowable, bump-drafting should be under control.

“It will be like going to a race about 10 years ago, I guess,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “They didn’t have any of them rules then. We didn’t see anything too crazy.”

Clint Bowyer said the fact NASCAR listened to the criticism of a year ago with the rules and the Car of Tomorrow is a good step toward winning back fans who lost interest a year ago. Attendance and television ratings were down more than 10 percent a year ago.

“Our fans are not happy. You got to do something to cater to our fans,” Bowyer said. “Without them, we can’t do what we do.”

NASCAR also announced that competition director John Darby was promoted to managing director of competition and will work at the Research and Development Department. The series is looking for a new director, and Darby will stay on the job until he trains his replacement.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.