The low, low downforce package was met with mixed reviews at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday – but could we see it again before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins? NASCAR will meet with team representatives on Wednesday to review the latest experience with the proposed 2017 configuration for the Cup Series to determine what, if any, changes need to be made and if the sport needs to take another run with the car prior to next season. While NASCAR has said repeatedly there will be no changes to the current 2016 rules package for the Chase, the possibility of running the lower downforce package at Michigan Speedway next month is not completely off the table. [NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller] believes the lower downforce package actually enhanced the racing on Saturday. He believes the additional grip provided by a higher-downforce package could have been a recipe for disaster. ‘The low, low downforce package, if that’s what we’re calling it now, helped at this race on the repave,’ Miller said. ‘I think the corner speeds would have been extremely high, and with the higher downforce stepping out of the groove might have even had more consequences than we had (Saturday night).’(Motorsport)(7-12-2016)
UPDATE: Goodyear is planning ahead for whatever challenges NASCAR has in store for the tire manufacturer. While no decision has been made regarding which aerodynamic setup the Sprint Cup Series will return to Michigan International Speedway next month with the 2017 prototype or the current 2016 low downforce package, the tire manufacturer will be prepared. ‘When we tested there to come up with the package that we ran at the first Michigan (June), we tested under both conditions – both downforce settings – with that same setup,’ Stu Grant, Goodyear’s General Manager of Worldwide Racing, told Motorsport.com. ‘We had a lot of discussions with NASCAR, ‘So what are you guys going to do rules-wise, tire-wise and so on?’ It didn’t really matter to us. We were ok on both downforce settings with that setup. So, whatever they choose, we have the tire for that. I know there’s discussion about going back there with lower downforce setting. Then there’s the school of thought, ‘Let’s get another data point and change it.’ I have not heard one way or another what the decision it, but we’re prepared both ways.’(Motorsport)
