Twenty-four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams assembled Tuesday at Talladega Superspeedway in an R&D test session that was used to confirm that the gear ratio was compatible with the restrictor plate size for next month’s running of the Aaron’s 499. The cars ran with the spoiler on the rear of the cars, as NASCAR announced in January that it was going to transition from the wing to the traditional spoiler sometime during the first quarter of this season. Teams started the day with a 1 1/32-inch sized restrictor plate. For the majority of the morning session, the teams participated in single-car runs over the 2.66-mile superspeedway. However, five cars hooked up for some drafting shortly before the lunch break and the speeds picked up a bit, with #48-Jimmie Johnson putting up the quickest speed of 196.467 mph. Teams began drafting in earnest after lunch. The plate size went down to 31/32″ and the teams adjusted the size of their rear spoilers in order to find that happy medium between high speeds and handling. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, was pleased with how the adjustments went during the afternoon practice. “We saw that the closure rates were a little too quick in the initial drafting session after lunch,” said Pemberton. “So, we had the teams make some adjustments, including going down on the plate size and trimming the spoiler back some. We believe we came away here today with a good starting point and are looking forward to coming back here next month with a great race.” More than 1,500 fans participated in a Fan Q&A session during the lunch break. Sitting in the track’s newly renovated grandstands on the frontstretch, the fans heard from drivers #2-Kurt Busch and #31-Jeff Burton, along with NASCAR Managing Director of Competition John Darby. Some of the fans were seen waiting in line outside the gates as early as 6 a.m. Tuesday. NASCAR also has a test planned next week ‘Â March 23-24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway ‘Â for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams to test the spoiler on a 1.5-mile race track.(NASCAR)(3-16-2010)
UPDATE: Tuesday’s Sprint Cup series test at Talladega Superspeedway was all about cutbacks. First NASCAR reduced the size of the restrictor plate hole from 1-1/32 inches to an inch to 31/32ths of an inch after speeds reached 213 mph. Then it trimmed two inches off the height from the outer edges of the spoiler that will replace the wing in two weeks and an inch from each side. #88-Dale Earnhardt and others agreed handling with the spoiler, despite more downforce, was about the same as the wing with the exception of more vibrations and shaking. The real test for the spoiler won’t come until next Tuesday and Wednesday [March 23-24] at Charlotte Motor Speedway where handling will be an issue. Talladega is mostly about speed, and as NASCAR and the 24 teams discovered the first to plate holes created way too much in large drafts. “When I got to 208 [mph] I knew that was crazy stupid,” Ryan Newman said. Speeds still were in the 203 mph range after NASCAR reduced the hole from 1-1/32 inches — 7/64ths of an inch larger than the hole used at Talladega in October and 3/64ths larger than the hole used earlier this year in the Daytona 500 — to one inch. It later was reduced to 31/32nds of an inch, where speeds dropped to the mid-190s that satisfied the governing body, whose main concern was excessive closing speed. NASCAR originally planned this test to determine the size of the plate hole, but then added the spoiler since that will be used when the series runs here on April 25. For the most part teams were pleased with the spoiler, saying it added more rear and front end downforce as advertised. They were pleased with the way the car handled in the draft, although some complained that it was hard to separate after pulling up tight to bump draft. That prompted NASCAR to reduce the overall height of the spoiler from 6ÃÂý-inches on the outside to 4ÃÂý inches all the way across. The spoiler is projected to be four inches all the way across for all non-restrictor plate tracks, beginning with its likely debut on March 28 at Martinsville. Initial speeds during single-car runs were around 188 mph, in range with last year’s pole speed of 188.171 mph. They increased to the mid-190s when Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers and Scott Speed hooked up in a five-car draft to close out the morning session.(ESPN.com)(3-17-2010)
