Roush-Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle was one of four drivers who gave the old-style spoiler its first on track test in January at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Texas Motor Speedway)
From a more traditional stock car look to added front downforce, the first on-track “baby steps” test of NASCAR’s rear-deck spoiler played to generally positive reviews at Texas Motor Speedway Tuesday.
And Sprint Cup driver Greg Biffle suggested there may even be a residual effect to the device that is destined to replace the rear wing on the Car or Tomorrow.
“Maybe something I look at… is possibly a disruption of the Hendrick (Motorsports) dominance,” said Biffle, who drives for corporate Cup rival Roush Fenway Racing. All Cup teams will enter the 2010 season at Daytona International Speedway next month chasing reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, who won an unprecedented fourth consecutive title in November.
Furthermore, Johnson was joined by HMS teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon in an unprecedented sweep of the top three points positions in their Chevrolets after the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“They (HMS) may not miss a bit,” Biffle said. “But when there’s a change in the rules and a change in the aero package and things like that you’re going to have to figure out what works again a little bit. The downforce in the car and all that is staying about the same, so it’s not going to be completely different. But it may be a little bit in there we can narrow that gap. We’ll all be on the same learning curve with that spoiler.”
Former Cup champions Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch joined Biffle and Brian Vickers for Day One of a two-day Goodyear tire test that took on added import when NASCAR gave the teams permission to test the spoiler on TMS’ 1.5-mile quadoval. NASCAR has booked an open test for Cup teams to test the blade at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a sister 1.5-mile facility to TMS, on March 23-24.
But there was plenty to talk about after Tuesday’s session, which saw each of the four manufacturers test a spoiler that ran four inches high and 64.5 inches wide, with no contour in the design. Additionally, the rear quarter panels on all cars were extended four inches toward the ground.
Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, said he found that setups may not change drastically with the blade. “We ran on the same setup (as with the wing). So it may not change anything as far as the setup goes,” Biffle said. “But (I’m) sure it’s going to change the racing.”
Vickers noticed only a subtle handling difference with his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry. “It added a little bit of front downforce, which probably is not a bad thing,” Vickers said. “It’s a little looser. A little more positive in the front steering, but nothing major. We can make a spring change and make a bigger difference than swapping (the rear wing).
“I think it’s going to be more receptive to the fans – looks a little cooler, a little more retro. I guess the big question…we haven’t been in a lot of traffic yet with it and how it’s going to handle in traffic. A spoiler, from what I’ve been told, is better in traffic. A spoiler is going to be more efficient in dirty air and a wing will be more efficient in clean air.”
Vickers said NASCAR did a good job as far as finding a balance between the wing and spoiler on short notice. “I mean, it’s like a couple track bar changes away,” Vickers said. “If you swapped them on pit road during a race, the next pit stop you could make a couple of changes to the track bar and wedge and you’d be fine. If anything it’s to the good because it should be better in traffic and should add more front downforce. But it’s not a major change.”
Busch, winner of last November’s Dickies 500 here, ran his first laps with the spoiler on the No.2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger at the end of the session. Busch labeled those hot laps as “baby steps.”
