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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Daytona – Is The Pack Back?
NASCAR to refine Daytona competition package after three days of testing…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted January 15, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Now the fun begins.

After three days and more than 20 hours of test runs this week at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR soon will conclude the process of devising a rules package for next month’s Sprint Cup racing at the sport’s most famous track – and for its biggest race, the Daytona 500.

The considerations probably will be more about the little things and less about the big.

NASCAR officials saw a lot of things that pleased them during the Thursday-Saturday testing period, despite the fact that speeds shot past the 206-miles-per-hour mark at one juncture. Vigorously encouraged by officials to bunch in a large pack for purposes of data gathering and evaluation of changes NASCAR had made, drivers did just that several times and produced enough close-quarters racing to warm the hearts of the disenchanted.

However, there also was much evidence that tandem drafting will continue to be a significant part of the Daytona landscape, despite NASCAR’s best efforts to blunt enthusiasm for it.

NASCAR’s mission over the next few days will be to put together a package that will produce 200 laps of competition in the 500 with a mixture of tandem drafting and pack racing. Saturday’s evaluations provide solid indications that the tools are there.

Asked if he expects a significant amount of pack racing – the type most fans apparently prefer – in the 500, NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said, “That's a hard question because you don't know what pleases all folks, and everybody has got a difference of opinion. So I think there will be a solid mix of all kinds of things, and you never know. In today's world, something else might pop up that becomes the advantage for a driver, a team, a group. We'll see.

“But, so far, we like what we've seen. It's been a good mix of what they can do in a larger pack and how close they can get for a limited time to push.”

Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said NASCAR probably will need only minor tweaks to complete its February competition package.
Robin Pemberton, Vice President of Competition for NASCAR, (Left) Mike Helton,(Center) President of NASCAR and John Darby,(Right) Managing Director for NASCAR address the media during Daytona Preseason Thunder at Daytona. (Photo: Getty Images)

“Everything we've done has all been in the correct direction, and short of nailing down some final sizes of grille openings and radiator pressures and things of that nature, I think we're there,” he said. “I think we're very close.”

Kurt Busch produced the fastest speed – 206.058 mph – of the three days, and several other drivers were over 205 in drafts. That raised a few red flags, but Pemberton said NASCAR is OK with speeds that creep over 200.

“We feel anything can happen, but we feel comfortable,” he said. “We've done a lot of work in the wind tunnels, and I think if you saw the little contact today, cars stayed on the ground pretty good, knock on wood.

“But, you know, at some point in time you drew a line, whether it was 200, whether it was just something to keep in mind and keep us in check. But right now I think we feel pretty good about it.”

Sprint Cup cars will return to Daytona Feb. 17 for practice for the Feb. 18 Budweiser Shootout, the first competition (although non-points) of the new season.

Daytona 500 qualifying is scheduled Feb. 19, and the race is set for Feb. 26.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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