As NASCAR continues debating what to do about potential tire trouble at Charlotte the varied ideas have predicatbly gotten lukewarm reviews from crew chiefs. The most controversial idea involves restrictor plates, with crew chiefs repreating the common refrain about not slowing corner speeds down and "we'll just run wide open here."
Restrictor plates continue to get bad press even though they work. It is repeatedly pointed out that they were used at New Hampshire in September 2000 and the race lead changed hands only once, on the opening lap, after which Jeff Burton led all 300 laps. That it had nothing to do with restrictor plates is never given a second thought, even though the mantra remains that restrictor plates somehow impede ability to pass because of reduction in throttle response. That theory, though, went down the drain from the 1988 Daytona 500 onward, and even at that NHIS race Bobby Labonte squeezed ahead of Burton for the lead on two seperate laps; Burton sidedrafted back around Labonte and beat him to the stripe both times, so officially the lead never changed.
The talk about running wide open at Charlotte ignores that they're for all practical purposed already wide open, a handling "sweet spot" teams regularly strive for, since wide open usually means perfect handling. Also ignored is that slowing the straightaway speeds won't mean faster corner speeds; corner speeds stay the same, the difference is the cars can take the corners harder because they're more secure to the track with slower straightaway speeds.
What is needed aside from the plates is a package that brings drafting back into Charlotte's playbook; drafting was a factor throughout the 1960s and 1970s until the slickness of the cars reduced the strength of the draft from the early '80s onward; it briefly returned in 1995-6 with the switch to GM's controversial W-body racecars. The roof spoiler package BGN runs at the plate tracks would seem to be a way to go there.
Also needed are better tires, and some (notably Chris Economaki, the nation's dean of race reporters and racecasters) have noted that NASCAR tires are too narrow for the cars to be secure to the track. Widening tires is a step worth exploring.
At NHIS the NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour has put on consistently superior racing from NHIS's debut in 1990, and their package is akin to the roof spoiler package combined with wide tires. NASCAR's fendered classes don't necessarily need as much tire as the Modifieds possess, but the principle is certainly easy to spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment