A third roof flap that NASCAR is studying, probably wouldn’t have kept Ryan Newman’s car from getting airborne in last Sunday’s Daytona 500, a series official said. “I don’t think that anything shows us that if two of them didn’t open that the third one would have opened in that case,” said Joe Garone, director of NASCAR’s research and development center. Each car has two roof flaps that are intended to flip up and keep the car from getting airborne when it gets turned around. Garone said unique circumstances led to Newman’s car getting in the air. After Newman hit the wall, the right rear wheel came off, allowing air to rush under the car. As that happened, Newman’s car slid down the banked track. The front half of his car was on the flat apron as the back end was on the 18-degree tri-oval. Also, Garone said Newman’s car did not turn around enough to trigger the roof flaps.( Roanoke Times )(2-23-2003)
