NASCAR: 2017 Rules Package Clearly Still Needs Work
By Mike Hutton
NASCAR’s 2017 rules package, or a version very similar thereto, was supposed to get it’s final real-world workout on Sunday at the Pure Michigan 400. From the single-file, aero-dependent racing we saw there, more work clearly needs to be done.
Each year, NASCAR comes up with a rules package that is designed in response to drivers, fans and media clamoring for more side-by-side racing, closer racing and more excitement throughout the race – not just at the start, on restarts or at the finish. What should this tell us? It should scream that they don’t yet have it right, and that more work needs to be done. The problem is, we hear these same cries at about this time each year, or at least as far back in recent memory that one can remember. That should also make it patently obvious that problems won’t be solved as long as non-racing people are making racing decisions.
What are we after?
Fans want more side-by-side racing throughout the field. They want more passing, especially for the lead of the race. They want the outcome of the race decided by drivers’ skill and talent and less about race cars and equipment. They want teams who cheat to be held accountable. They want to feel that a driver starting in the back has an opportunity to move to the front and contend for a win. In short, they want a race rather than a show. They don’t really care about clean air and track position.
In short, they want racing the way it used to be.
Where have we been?
Who better than the “King,” seven time champion and inaugural Hall-of-Fame member Richard Petty himself to put the yesterday and today of the sport into perspective. In this segment from “In Depth” with Graham Bensinger, Petty explains.
Where should we go?
Petty also offered some comments which should be carefully considered to restore some of the lost luster of the on-track product…. the racing itself. Quite simply, you have to stop sealing these cars to the ground and get them up off of the ground as well. Eliminate the front fascia / splitter. Eliminate the side skirts. Require a ground clearance of four or five inches. Eliminate a common body template.
Doing so will make the cars less aerodynamically dependent. Right now, the lead car has the benefit of clean air and the ability to seal itself to the track and go. Everyone from second place on back doesn’t have the same advantage, and it decreases the farther back you go. Eliminating the fascias and side skirts would also eliminate the ability of cars to seal themselves to the track. Increasing the ride height would get air back underneath the car, which would provide equal opportunities to drivers who aren’t near the front to get there if they have the braun to muscle the car that way.
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What do you think? Do you like what you have seen with the presumptive 2017 rules package that was used at Michigan and Kentucky this year? Would you make additional changes? Be sure to comment below or reach us via social media!