The NASCAR Busch and Cup teams have headed west for the first big test of the new downforce and tire package. Several teams hit the asphalt of Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Monday. They were joined on Tuesday by about 40 teams as preparations for the 2004 season hit a high gear. In speaking with Roush Racing’s Brad Parrott, who is here with Matt Kenseth and a Busch car, www.teamfordracing.com learned that the new aero and tire package is making the cars a little less driver friendly. This is something that can easily be heard as the drivers are back to sawing at the throttle as they set their car for corner entrance. A shorter rear spoiler along with softer tires that Goodyear is running this year is driving the new feel. Looking at the tire Parrott, who is one of the best in the game at understanding the role of the tire on the car, tells TFR that the test tire, and the tire slated for the early March race, is the same tire that Goodyear brought to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season-ending Ford Championship weekend in 2003. These tires are very similar in construction to the 2001 Goodyear offering and had Parrott offering the warning regarding camber that bit so many teams that season. Camber, which is a measure of a tire’s vertical relationship to the travel path, can help a car turn through a corner quickly. But too much camber can chew a tire apart, predominantly on the inner inch or two of the tire and lead to premature failure. Of the four tires most likely to suffer from overly aggressive camber settings the right front comes in at the top of the list as a majority of the car’s weight leans on this quarter of the car at corner entry. This tire, which gets good wear, has a softer sidewall and gives the driver that “I’m hanging onto my butt out here” feel, according to Parrott. Parrott says that the lower rear blade and other NASCAR template issues have taken some of the aero load off the car, but not enough to totally change the approach to getting a car dialed in.(Ford Racing)(1-29-2004)
