Humpy Praises NASCAR’s Safety Efforts: After watching two intense days of testing through his office window at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, President and General Manager H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler says he is impressed with NASCAR’s efforts to improve safety and on-track competition. “I applaud NASCAR in their testing for a bigger and better car,” said Wheeler after spending time in the garage area while NASCAR and Goodyear officials worked with six different teams testing tires and larger “greenhouse areas” on NASCAR Winston Cup cars. “What they are doing is exactly what their new research and development team was established to do.” Wheeler added that changing the car is a bold and difficult task for the sanctioning body. “NASCAR is tackling one of the more difficult tasks in sport. It would equate to the NFL changing the shape of the football,” Wheeler said following two days of testing this week at the 1.5-mile superspeedway. “The objective is to enhance safety while improving competition. In the past, stock car racing development has been evolutionary, but now with in-depth planning, it’s more proactive.” With Managing Director of Competition Gary Nelson on hand, NASCAR officials utilized a two-day Goodyear tire test at the track to do some testing of their own. Using 2003 versions of three car makes – Dodge, Ford and Pontiac – NASCAR gathered data on new, larger driver compartments, commonly referred to as greenhouse areas. Officials hope the greenhouse areas will improve driver safety and on-track aerodynamics. Drivers participating in NASCAR’s portion of the test included Jimmy Spencer in his Target Dodge, Todd Bodine in his Discover Ford and Johnny Benson in his Vavoline Pontiac. Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Ricky Craven conducted tire tests for Goodyear. Driver feedback was not as positive as NASCAR had hoped, but Nelson wasn’t discouraged. “We test to find solutions,” said Nelson. “What we would like to accomplish is an equally as stable car or more stable car with the bigger driver’s compartment. We’re just not there yet. We tested a bigger greenhouse car at Kansas City and we learned a lot,” said Spencer. “We thought everything was working out really well. However, when we got out on the track here with three cars running together, it was worse than we thought it would be. “Our push is actually worse with this configuration than the current aero push we have now. Plus, the cars were unstable. So is it the tire? Is it taking away too much downforce? We don’t know, but we’re not going to stop working to find out.” Wheeler said he understands the delicate balance NASCAR and the drivers are seeking. “The acute problem is coming up with a car that most of the drivers and crew guys like, but the different driving styles make that more difficult,” Wheeler commented. “While safety is the first priority, eliminating the aero push, which makes passing so difficult, is a big concern. This aero push requires resolving a lot of complexities including body profiles, springs, shocks and tires. I think NASCAR made some progress this week, and I’m sure they’ll continue pushing for solutions.”(LMS PR)(8-10-2002) (8-9-2002)
