Final practice for the Daytona 500 went off without a hitch for the most part, other than some tire trouble for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers painting the second-turn exit wall black ever so gently. Reading the Bull Sheet shows the speeds, but then that really doesn't say much, since the 500's weather is predicted to be some 15-20 degrees cooler than Saturday, more in line with Friday practice. Also, a striking aspect was how few cars ran the entire session - most ran the first quarter to third, then it steadily thinned out until only about half a dozen cars were still on the track by the session's end.
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Meanwhile, another Dodge team will run the Intrepid at Fontana, which would seem to be a factory call, and a no-confidence vote in the beleagured Charger. The blunt nose is being blamed, since it was designed for a higher-downforce harder-tire package than what NASCAR threw at everyone.
Dodge hopes to at least get some concession on spoiler, but the exercise is a symptom of a larger problem - the failure of the low-downforce package. Advertised as the way to eliminate the aeropush, it has had the opposite effect. And yet NASCAR is stubbornly sticking with it.
Dodge teams will press on, but there still remain issues to resolve before the racing gets back where it needs to be.
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