What NASCAR needs to do is get rid of all the 1.5 mile tracks. There are enough drivers and engineers out there that could create more challenging and fan friendly tracks. The hottest tickets on the circuit are at the short tracks.
In a larger sense, though, I think that if next Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 is the same kind of event -- where the leader can't be touched and track position is the be-all and end-all - I am going to have to say that NASCAR has to do something about the rules on this car.
I know fans will howl because they didn't change things last year when Hendrick Motorsports was dominating. But NASCAR can't spend this summer, with the economy like it's going to be, having races where the only place the leader gets passed is on pit road.
There are people who say the COT needs to be abandoned, but that's not going to happen. It does look like something is going to have to be done to change what's happening on the track, though.
Makes sense to me... NASCAR never seems to make any sense though.
Hey! Poole agrees with me!
I am happy to see him speaking out about this, and hope more follow his example.
This wasn't the tires, the drivers are happy to complain about the tires when they're the issue. This is the car.
The teams have taken fixing the car into their own hands with the "dog tracking" thing to improve the turning capability and fans are, of course, complaining about that too.
The teams have taken fixing the car into their own hands with the "dog tracking" thing to improve the turning capability and fans are, of course, complaining about that too.
Fans are complaining because the cars look stupid crabbing around the track.
The problem is that NASCAR has been so unwilling to allow for aero and front travel adjustments that the teams have had to resort to these crabby solutuions.
And it's not just the fans complaining. NASCAR said they are going to be putting an end to this crabwalking cacophony.
Myself and Justmeintec (and maybe a couple others) were out a few months ago saying that, by the 600, the engineers will have exhausted all possible options with the COT.
I believe we are right on track.
I think the 600 is going to turn out to be a bland race. The car just isn't racing well on these tracks. With the old car you could race a guy. Not with this one in it's current trim. Really, this thing has been horrid on 1.5 mile tracks. It's not going to get any better, the engineers can't develop the things any further. Something needs to change.
I definitely think NASCAR needs to widen the range of adjustment at front and rear. Let the teams play with the geometry and allow for more front travel. Get these things to turn at the front end. And get rid of that stupid claw and the aero-equal bodies. Let them tweak the bodies a little bit to get these things to handle.
I'm not calling for side-by-side racing every lap. I don't want any contrived BS. I just want drivers to be able to race for position when the time comes.
Myself and Justmeintec (and maybe a couple others) were out a few months ago saying that, by the 600, the engineers will have exhausted all possible options with the COT.
I believe we are right on track.
I think the 600 is going to turn out to be a bland race. The car just isn't racing well on these tracks. With the old car you could race a guy. Not with this one in it's current trim. Really, this thing has been horrid on 1.5 mile tracks. It's not going to get any better, the engineers can't develop the things any further. Something needs to change.
I definitely think NASCAR needs to widen the range of adjustment at front and rear. Let the teams play with the geometry and allow for more front travel. Get these things to turn at the front end. And get rid of that stupid claw and the aero-equal bodies. Let them tweak the bodies a little bit to get these things to handle.
I'm not calling for side-by-side racing every lap. I don't want any contrived BS. I just want drivers to be able to race for position when the time comes.
I'm waiting for NASCAR to add restrictor plates on the 1.5 mile tracks... That sounds like a solution they'd come up with...
How can we know if there is even anything truly wrong when the teams haven't even had a full year to gather data and to try things?
What would be the point of taking swings at change without knowing enough to know what specific, targeted changes would have the desired effect? After all, drivers and teams are complaining that changes during the race don't have the effect they expect. For all they know, any change made right now could make the problem they're aiming at worse instead of better.
I'd rather see them do something really wild like letting the teams run a race with their testing electronics in place -- fed to Nascar's R&D;people and distributed to everyone. (Let teams opt out of if it they want but they opt out of getting the results too).
When something looks like it might be going wrong panic is always the first reaction. But running around in circles yelling, "Do something! ANYTHING!" is not a productive use of time and energy. Things done in a panic usually result in "unintended consequences" that are worse than the original issue.
Things done in a panic usually result in "unintended consequences" that are worse than the original issue.
Killer, I believe the NASCAR with the COT has already created numerous "unintended consequences".
It was supposed to reduce the cost of racing... it's as high if not higher.
Teams still have as many cars
Teams still have as many employees if not more.
Cars that are wrecked have to be destroyed rather than repaired
It's supposed to help the little guy compete... it's set them back.
It's supposed to equalize the field... we see how that's worked out, haven't we.
It's supposed to be safer... granted, that has been demonstrated. But how safe do you consider
"snappy loose" to be? No one has figured that one out totally.
I'm sure there are other "unintended consequences" that I have failed to list, but you get my point.
Things done in a panic usually result in "unintended consequences" that are worse than the original issue.
Killer, I believe the NASCAR with the COT has already created numerous "unintended consequences".
It was supposed to reduce the cost of racing... it's as high if not higher.
Teams still have as many cars
Teams still have as many employees if not more.
Cars that are wrecked have to be destroyed rather than repaired
It's supposed to help the little guy compete... it's set them back.
It's supposed to equalize the field... we see how that's worked out, haven't we.
It's supposed to be safer... granted, that has been demonstrated. But how safe do you consider
"snappy loose" to be? No one has figured that one out totally.
I'm sure there are other "unintended consequences" that I have failed to list, but you get my point.
I agree, SOK. If GGB is right, then NASCAR must have developed this car in full-blown panic mode.
I don't understand the reluctance to give the teams more room to work in. The trucks have several more inches to play with on the front splitter - I don't know why they're not allowed at least that in the Cup cars, too.
This car is not right. We don't need 4 more months of bad racing and teams forced to extremes just to get them to handle to tell us that. I predict that NASCAR will allow changes, and if they're smart they'll do it sooner rather than later.
I agree, SOK. If GGB is right, then NASCAR must have developed this car in full-blown panic mode.
We agree again???
Picture in your mind the old Keystone Cops.... Some days that's how NASCAR appears.
DW hit the nail on the head in his article a couple of weeks ago. All the gimmicks or tricks these teams
are playing around with has nothing to do with that they don't know what to do to fix it.
It's just that they can't fix it and still be within NASCAR's rules.
Things done in a panic usually result in "unintended consequences" that are worse than the original issue.
Killer, I believe the NASCAR with the COT has already created numerous "unintended consequences".
It was supposed to reduce the cost of racing... it's as high if not higher.
Teams still have as many cars
Teams still have as many employees if not more.
Cars that are wrecked have to be destroyed rather than repaired
It's supposed to help the little guy compete... it's set them back.
It's supposed to equalize the field... we see how that's worked out, haven't we.
It's supposed to be safer... granted, that has been demonstrated. But how safe do you consider
"snappy loose" to be? No one has figured that one out totally.
I'm sure there are other "unintended consequences" that I have failed to list, but you get my point.
I was never under the illusion that the "cost of racing" would go down or that some magic would make it possible for undercapitalized teams to suddenly achieve success (but then I don't consider being underfunded and in over your head a virtue anyway). That's a phrase that sounds nice, but which had all the credibility of a politician's campaign promises from the beginning.
As for the equalizing of the field, what, exactly, are people seeing as a problem here? The competitive depth is so good that we have past champions as deep as 22nd and multi-race winners as deep as the 30's. The defending winner of the Coke 600 is 27th.
And no one has shown that "snappy loose" is a hazard either. Especially in a car that can take this much damage without affecting its performance.
IMO, people who expected the COT to be 100% perfect in all respects from day one has never actually attempted to take something complex from idea to real-world application. One designs, one creates prototypes for testing, one corrects the design, one creates more prototypes for more testing, one corrects the design, one creates the first generation for distribution, on collects real-world application information and, in due time after sorting out the significant from the insignificant, one creates the next generation.
Consider the totally unanticipated way that the COT straigtens back out when knocked sideways. No one predicted that one.
Consider the way a COT can slap the wall and keep on running.
Consider the way two cars can move together on the plate tracks. A driver still needs help to win, but its no longer a game of "guess which line is going to work".
Consider the fact that a tiny wrinkle in the fender no longer spells doom.
The teams have taken fixing the car into their own hands with the "dog tracking" thing to improve the turning capability and fans are, of course, complaining about that too.
Fans are complaining because the cars look stupid crabbing around the track.
The problem is that NASCAR has been so unwilling to allow for aero and front travel adjustments that the teams have had to resort to these crabby solutuions.
And it's not just the fans complaining. NASCAR said they are going to be putting an end to this crabwalking cacophony.
NASCAR never said they were putting an end to it. From the David Poole article…
I was sitting here in the press box a little while ago and John Darby walked in. We were chatting and I asked him what they were going to do about the sideways cars the teams are building these days. He said that the teams need a little bit of that to make their cars work , but that this week several of them have gone beyond the point NASCAR is going to tolerate.
That sounds like rear steer will be around for a while. Not to the extreme of #77 but something that will be drivable onto the scale pads or through garage door openings. Also, I think the notification was being sent out in the form of a memo not a rule change.
