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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: NASCAR Bans Driver-To-Driver Communication For All Races
Drivers may communicate with their spotter and their crew during a race but not with other drivers, spotters or crewmen from other teams...
Bob Pockrass  | http://www.scenedaily.com  |  Posted January 13, 2012   Daytona Beach, FL
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series director John Darby says fans have voiced their opposition to tandem drafting. (Photo: Getty Images)
Sprint Cup drivers got their first look at tandem drafting under NASCAR's new rules Thursday afternoon, and they will continue the adjustment period as NASCAR looks to break up the two-car draft by changing the size of the restrictor plate and making other changes for testing before testing resumes Friday morning at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR instituted several rules to make the cars potentially overheat quicker and handle worse in hopes of limiting the number of laps that can be run in the two-car draft. The size of the radiator and overflow tanks are smaller and the duct (opening) that runs air to the radiator lines up with the rear bumper, which means less is air going through the grille when pushing. Softer springs and a smaller spoiler are also among the changes, as is a restrictor plate with slightly larger holes.

But even with the initial changes, some drivers cracked 202 mph Thursday, and crew chiefs indicated that NASCAR will change the restrictor plate from one with holes of 29/32nds of an inch in diameter to 30/32nds of an inch. NASCAR also is strongly considering decreasing the size of the front grille opening by an inch on each side and lowering the temperature that the radiator would start releasing water.

While increasing the size of the restrictor plate would make the cars go faster, it also would overheat the engine more quickly and possibly make the cars more difficult to drive.

NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton wouldn’t commit to any specific changes Thursday afternoon.

“Today is just the first day of a test, and I would venture a guess that there will be changes around the corner in one form or fashion,” Pemberton said.

Among the new rules entering the three-day test that had nothing to do with the cars themselves – drivers may communicate with their spotter and their crew during a race but not with other drivers, spotters or crewmen from other teams.

In the last restrictor-plate race at Talladega last fall, drivers had a dozen or more other drivers they could talk to and made deals with whom they would draft with in the two-car tandems.

“Matt Kenseth … said anything that NASCAR can do to help us get back to 1 against 42 others, he supports, and I think that's part of it, whether it be the confusion from the driver's seat or the being able to cut a deal or whatever it is,” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said.

Some drivers liked being able to use one spotter for two cars because the driver pushing in a two-car draft can’t see much except the car in front.

But driver feedback also indicated that it was distracting.

“There was a point where it got so confusing to them that they actually lost focus on what they were doing and felt much better if we could back that off somewhat and get it to a standard or more common communications between driver and spotter and driver and pit crew as we've known it in the past,” Darby said.

There was one accident during the second practice session Thursday when Mark Martin spun teammate Clint Bowyer.

There were no cars in front of them and it didn’t appear to be a matter of spotter-driver communication.

Spotters can still listen to multiple radios and know what’s being said by the other driver in the two-car tandem to help deliver information quickly. Crew chiefs also can talk to each other.

“The teams will still work with [each other] inside the rule, whether it's spotters on the roof, swapping notes back and forth,” Darby said. “There will be plenty of communications going on and the drivers will be almost as aware as they were, I guess.

“But it just seemed like that would be helpful to unclutter the airwaves a little bit if you would and make the communications more point blank and direct to within the team.”

NASCAR is hoping that drivers don’t run in the two-car draft often. Fan feedback has indicated that they want more pack racing instead of two-car drafting.

Kasey Kahne was able to be pushed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. for four laps and then pushed him for three – and could have even done it longer.

“It wasn’t as big of a change as what I thought it maybe could be,” Kahne said.

Only 10 drivers worked on drafting Thursday. Pemberton said NASCAR will encourage more drafting, including drafting in bigger groups, Friday.

Darby indicated that getting rid of the two-car draft likely won’t happen, but NASCAR can possibly limit it through new rules.

“It's a tool in everybody's pocket that makes the last couple laps of the race more exciting than what we've seen in the past, and that's OK,” Darby said. “They're going to do that. We can't stop the competitors from trying to win a race, nor do we want to.

“It's probably just putting a bigger piece of the race back to normal, if you want to call it normal, or old-school style drafting, and help the end of the race become as exciting as we can make it.“

SceneDaily.com • Kasey Kahne to Hendrick, bevy of new crew chiefs highlight list of best offseason moves

DAYTONA PRESEASON THUNDER TESTING: During the Jan. 12-14 test sessions at Daytona International Speedway, fans can submit questions and comments through Twitter @SPEED (http://www.twitter.com/speed) using the #daytonatesting hashtag.
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