NASCAR is expecting to announce performance rules changes sometime before the May 17th NASCAR Sprint All-Star race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
And those changes won’t just be limited to changes in motors.
Earlier this year Brian Z. France, NASCAR’s CEO said that there would be rules changes to encourage more passing on the one and one-half mile oval which dominate the NASCAR calendar.
The Des Moines Register quoted NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations Steve O’Donnell, speaking at the Sponsor Summit at Iowa Speedway, said “the whole package," meaning the sanctioning body would make "significant" changes.
"Engines, downforce, aero and tires," he added for emphasis.
Although the Gen 6 car proved faster than all of its’ predecessors there still was the sticky issue of lack of passing.
“We’ve still got work to do,” he said. “Brian’s talked about (wanting) more and more lead changes. That’s the end goal.”
France and O’Donnell, the report said, hope to see more passing when they reduce the amount of horsepower in the engines.
No stone has been left unturned. Even the Goodyear tires are likely to change to foster more on-track competition by next season.
“If you watched last year … 50 laps into a run, 10 laps to go, nobody pits for tires,” O’Donnell said. “And if one guy did, it didn’t matter. You think, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not right.’ So tires are a big part of this as well in getting that all right.”
NASCAR, which maintains a Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., has also conducted closed to-the-public tests at the 1.5-mile track in Charlotte.
Although teams are expecting these changes, the details have not been made known to them as yet.
And those changes won’t just be limited to changes in motors.
Earlier this year Brian Z. France, NASCAR’s CEO said that there would be rules changes to encourage more passing on the one and one-half mile oval which dominate the NASCAR calendar.
The Des Moines Register quoted NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations Steve O’Donnell, speaking at the Sponsor Summit at Iowa Speedway, said “the whole package," meaning the sanctioning body would make "significant" changes.
"Engines, downforce, aero and tires," he added for emphasis.
Although the Gen 6 car proved faster than all of its’ predecessors there still was the sticky issue of lack of passing.
“We’ve still got work to do,” he said. “Brian’s talked about (wanting) more and more lead changes. That’s the end goal.”
France and O’Donnell, the report said, hope to see more passing when they reduce the amount of horsepower in the engines.
No stone has been left unturned. Even the Goodyear tires are likely to change to foster more on-track competition by next season.
“If you watched last year … 50 laps into a run, 10 laps to go, nobody pits for tires,” O’Donnell said. “And if one guy did, it didn’t matter. You think, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not right.’ So tires are a big part of this as well in getting that all right.”
NASCAR, which maintains a Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., has also conducted closed to-the-public tests at the 1.5-mile track in Charlotte.
Although teams are expecting these changes, the details have not been made known to them as yet.