NASCAR introduced the COT and turned downforce numbers upside-down. Then banned testing and some drives and a whole team have not recovered.
When NASCAR realized the cars on track had become overly impacted by air of other cars, NASCAR went to the drawing board and developed the Car Of Tomorrow. One of their primary goals was to eliminate the effect of the air from the leading car to the trailing car, the dreaded “aero push”.
Teams tested the new car everywhere they could costing a lot off money. Most weeks during the season almost every team was at some track testing Tuesday and Wednesday. First NASCAR said you can’t test at tracks that host top 3 tier series races, second they eliminated use of Goodyear tires during testing. Finally to save the owners from themselves the current total testing ban was put in place.
More from NASCAR
- NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
- NASCAR: Will Kevin Harvick’s major record ever be broken?
- NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
- NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
- NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
The big wrinkle in this was NASCAR kept changing the aerodynamics on the cars. The downforce numbers were closely analyzed and changes regularly made to even competition. From radiator inlets to side skirts to fender flares to rear wings to spoilers of different heights they changed a lot! They did this without allowing testing, so the teams that never quite got the COT were put even farther behind with every change.
Most of the multi car teams had seven point rigs and teams of engineers to run simulations to get a good idea of what to expect on the track. Problem is a generation of drivers got used to the huge downforce and aero push so they could not handle the new car. It was not overnight but buy 2012 the damage had been done, drivers like Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman who were contenders every week became not worthy of a post race interview.
These drivers had become dependent on the nose of the car sticking to the ground and only the back end getting lose, a trait that they had been raised on through late models. Now they turn the wheel the car pushes, it grabs and the back goes around. The only place drivers get used to it is on race weekend, no testing! As soon as they catch up a little, another change by NASCAR and behind these drives are again.
The worst of it seems to be at Rousch Fenway Racing. Before Carl Edwards left he had gone from a regular contender to an occasional contender. Greg Biffle was middle of the pack and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was truly disappointing. Even their satellite team, the Wood Brothers, struggled only being contenders at restrictor plate tracks. In 2015 the Wood Brothers saw so much improvement in Penske equipment they have gone back to a full time schedule in 2016 with Ryan Blaney.
The drivers that have fallen off in the last few years do not have much in common, but all seem affected the same way. Weather its the aerodynamic changes or lack of testing to adjust to it, they have left their teams in a hole.
More racing: Five Drivers Who Will Miss The Chase In 2016
A team like RFR that has never had a handle on the new package really has to go outside its walls to find the people can return them to contenders. Tomorrows drivers have to be adaptable and able to communicate better because without testing the best computer an engineer can get information from wears a helmet.