After NASCAR Sprint Cup Cars, running in two-car drafts, reached speeds of 203mph on Friday and 206 in Saturday’s Bud Shoot Out, NASCAR officials instituted a number of rules changes aimed – eventually - at slowing down the cars by making it harder to draft around the 2.5 mile tri-oval for multiple laps.
If you are a little confused about the recent rules changes aimed at slowing the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars at Daytona you are not alone.
On Sunday, Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, said that teams would be required to have a maximum size of 2.5 inches tall by 20 inches wide on the front grille opening and install a pressure-relief valve on the water system that will be set at 33 psi before they return to Daytona on Wednesday.
Doug Yates, Head Engine Builder at Roush Yates explained, “I think the first objective with these rules changes is it looks like NASCAR is trying to break the cars up and they’re trying to limit how hot we can run these engines. As a result, they’re gonna limit the front-end opening and put a pressure release valve at 33 psi, which is gonna bring down the operating limits of the engine.”
Although it sounds like a minor technical change - which can be accomplished before Wednesday’s practice - Yates says not so fast.
“It is a very big deal. We’ve worked for a long time, especially on the water systems, to be able to run the temperatures that we do today,” he said.
The genesis of this situation was last year, in Talladega after a similar repaving, when drivers found that a two-car draft could run away from the big “train” of 20 or more cars.
After Daytona’s repaving was completed drivers found that they could drive virtually anywhere on the track and the two-car breakaway was off and running again.
If you are a little confused about the recent rules changes aimed at slowing the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars at Daytona you are not alone.
On Sunday, Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, said that teams would be required to have a maximum size of 2.5 inches tall by 20 inches wide on the front grille opening and install a pressure-relief valve on the water system that will be set at 33 psi before they return to Daytona on Wednesday.
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| Photo: WRI2 |
Doug Yates, Head Engine Builder at Roush Yates explained, “I think the first objective with these rules changes is it looks like NASCAR is trying to break the cars up and they’re trying to limit how hot we can run these engines. As a result, they’re gonna limit the front-end opening and put a pressure release valve at 33 psi, which is gonna bring down the operating limits of the engine.”
Although it sounds like a minor technical change - which can be accomplished before Wednesday’s practice - Yates says not so fast.
“It is a very big deal. We’ve worked for a long time, especially on the water systems, to be able to run the temperatures that we do today,” he said.
The genesis of this situation was last year, in Talladega after a similar repaving, when drivers found that a two-car draft could run away from the big “train” of 20 or more cars.
After Daytona’s repaving was completed drivers found that they could drive virtually anywhere on the track and the two-car breakaway was off and running again.