NASCAR’s Statement on the the Talladega Testing: The following are comments from Gary Nelson, NASCAR Winston Cup Series director, regarding Monday’s test by NASCAR at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. This test was designed by NASCAR for its teams to test various changes to the current aerodynamics package in place for Daytona and Talladega. Drivers participating in the test were: Rusty Wallace, Kevin Lepage, Bill Elliott, Johnny Benson, Michael Waltrip, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, Ward Burton, Jerry Nadeau, Jimmy Spencer, Ricky Rudd, Joe Nemechek, Ken Schrader, Sterling Marlin, John Andretti, Buckshot Jones, Bobby Hamilton and Todd Bodine. The No. 29 team participated with Dave Marcis as the driver. The teams tested, among other things, three different restrictor-plate sizes (15/16ths, 29/32nds and 7/8ths) and the removal of the roof air-deflector. “It was a very productive and informative day. We were able to learn many things. We couldn’t have learned the things we did in a single-car test or in the wind tunnel or dyno-type tests. We needed a pack of cars to help us obtain all that we did. Our next step is to take the information gathered and analyze all of it. That will obviously assist us in our decision process. “We started the morning with 20-car drafts in 20-lap runs. Then we reduced the number to 15-car drafts and 15-lap runs. The idea was to make the current aero-package more efficient and to do so, we changed the plate size, rear spoiler angle and removed the air deflector on the roof. “At one point, we even had the teams use a combination that was similar to the aero-package the NASCAR Busch Series currently use (60 degree spoiler angle and no roof air deflector or rear spoiler deflector). “One example of the data we were searching for was to find a balance between aerodynamics and restrictor-plates. The way we did this was to reduce the aero-drag on the car, which in turn picks up speed and then we off set this with a smaller plate. The current aero-package in place is a high aero-drag combination. “Now keep in mind, the speeds at Daytona and Talladega, more so Talladega, have been satisfactory. We wanted to maintain that pace but with a lower drag combination. “With the number of teams here testing, we received an unprecedented amount of input from the drivers. We were able to zero in on what the driver was feeling after a run.”(NASCAR PR)(8-29-2001)
