Pocono And NASCAR's New Rule Sagacity Debate

Here's what you need to know about race drivers as frauds and hypocrites - Kyle Busch griped about the restrictor plate-draft duct package being phased into NASCAR "It's boring as (hell)."   Then in the Pocono 400 he screamed "Can't f---king pass," this with aeroclean bodies and unrestricted power - and resultant superior throttle response.

It is all part of what is becoming the raging rule sagacity debate in the sport - the restrictor plate-draft duct package first used in the 2017 Lillys Xfinity 250 at Indianapolis, then used in the All-Star Race and open at Charlotte, and now debuting at Pocono and later Michigan for the Xfinity series.   The racing with this package has seen a palpable increase in passing with Ontario-style passing and repassing at The Brickyard and at Charlotte there was passing and drafting reminiscent of 1970s-era Charlotte racing as well as reminiscent of circa-1993 Daytona racing.   In its debut at Pocono, the package took a distant back seat to Kyle Busch's annihilation of the field; he routed the field in Stage 1, got a penalty so he had to pass the field while Paul Menard got into an eye-popping two-by-two push-draft slugfest to win Stage 2, then stormed to the lead on the outside of the Tunnel Turn on the ensuing restart and ran off.    He then flunked postrace inspection.

The Paul Menard car-cam view of the Pocono Green 250 - the fight for the lead swelled into an epic in the final lap of Stage 2

The plate package was easily the talk of Saturday and also in prerace for Sunday.   Word has now circulated that NASCAR will run the plate package at more Winston Cup Monster Energy series races in 2018, with scuttlebutt identifying potential sites as Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Indianapolis; also supposedly considered are Pocono's Summer 400 and Michigan's Yankee 400 weekend with both tracks seeing the package used in the Busch/Xfinity series.

NASCAR's Director of Aerodynamics Simulation and Design, Eric Jacuzzi, issued an apology for the perceived failure of the plate package at Pocono (curiously deleted) -

"Disappointing day today (Saturday June 2). Not enough cornering ability to make the package work through One and Three. Was worth a shot. We'll make it up to you at Michigan next week."

Eric Jacuzzi need not be hard on himself, for objectively the plate package did indeed work at Pocono.   The four-car draft battle where all four raced side-by-side all the way around the track - including all the way through the Tunnel Turn, something considered impossible even when in 1995 Tim Steele and Mike Wallace did so for the lead on some three separate laps in the ARCA Syracuse 150 at Pocono - indicated it in fact does work well.   And the more teams work on this package the better they will make it.

Some historical perspective is needed.   In 1990 Dale Earnhardt was in essence unpassable on the plate tracks - indeed the common theme among rival drivers was the draft no longer worked, especially when Earnhardt was out front.   Teams worked on their cars and engines, especially in the November-March open-season on testing allowed by NASCAR back then, while NASCAR made a spoiler enlargement to boost the power of the draft, and in 1991 the plate races erupted in memorable competition in all four races, especially that July's Diehard 500.

Elsewhere commentary on the plate package has been animated and after Pocono came the usual nonsensical criticisms that NASCAR needs to drop these big tracks for "more short tracks," never mind Pocono and other superspeedways are superior venues in competition, market strength, etc.   The gripe has come in some circles that "short tracks don't need aero packages to make good racing," a claim belied by the fact fendered short track racecar classes run downforce-style bodies with big clear-vu spoilers, some form of engine restriction, and bias-ply tires - and even the Modifieds on the Tour as well as local Mods also run some form of engine restriction and bias-ply tires.   In other words short tracks need "special packages" because the model of low-downforce aeroclean bodies with unrestricted power and radial tires simply doesn't work.

Kyle Busch's runaway in the Pocono Green 250 brings to mind his dominance of the 2017 Overtons Truck 150 at Pocono  - a racing vehicle package that is a good approximation of the plate package used in 2018's 250 - until his wreck on a mid-race restart.  It is an indication he's figured out how to engineer his racecars for this track like few others have, though his postrace penalty in 2018 casts some shadow.


There is also the angle of the 400 - what if that race had run the plate-draft duct package?   As it was, Martin Truex's semi-upset win showed Kyle Busch and erstwhile race dominator Kevin Harvick weren't the duopoly this race seemed to have for so long.   One thus suspects the Menard-Custer-Allgaier-Cindric epic in the 250 would have been replicated and then some by the Cup guys in the 400 if that race had run the plate package.

So it's become that for now every race will be some kind of forum on this plate package given its success at opening up passing.   It also is a raging discussion amid a noticeable surge in enthusiasm for the sport in recent races, with widespread fan enthusiam for Martin Truex at Pocono in clear evidence as he surged to the win.

NASCAR thus can see something it has lacked for so long - a positive outlook for the future.