More on the Daytona tests: The speedway tests, which were performed at Daytona International on Tuesday, gave NASCAR a chance to tweak on the speedway aero package, yet again. Ten cars jumped the hoop and arrived at Daytona Beach, Fla., ready to roll. Representing the Ford effort were Dave Blaney, Geoff Bodine and Elliott Saddler. The tests, which were cut short due to rain in the area, focused mainly on the rear spoilers of the cars. The tests took logical steps and shorted both size and angle of the rear spoiler. The goals were to find a combination that made the cars looser so that the drivers would have to work the throttle to make a lap on Daytona International Speedway 2.5-mile high-banks. The test started with the current spoiler configuration (6-inches tall, 57-inches wide), and had the drivers running 49.40′ with their foot mashed to the floorboards. The next step of the test kicked the spoilers down to a 45-degree angle, which picked the lap times up by about .4 of a second. Driver comfort remained constant. NASCAR then whacked 4-inches off the sides of the spoilers and left the angle at 45 degrees. The drivers were, for the most part, able to keep the accelerator matted for an entire lap. The next step got the drivers working the accelerator, some, but the spoiler could be described as tiny with 4-inches cut off each side of the rear blade, and the height shortened to 4.5-inches. TFR’ source said that between the hard tires and the DIS lumpy surface the cars werent so much loose, but that they were out of control. A larger restrictor plate (increased from 15/16-inch from 7/8-inch) was put on a couple of cars, which of course worsened the handling problem.(Ford Racing) AND Ryan Pemberton calls it the “retro look,” when he describes the aerodynamics of his Daytona 500 Ford for NASCAR’s rain-shortened test at Daytona International Speedway yesterday: a shorter 4-1/2-inch rear spoiler laid back almost flat at 25 degrees.(see a HUGE column at Winston Salem Journal – lots more info on the testing there)(8-15-2002)
