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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Big-Track Rules Changed By NASCAR
NASCAR has put the racing back in the hands of the drivers...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted January 21, 2010   Concord, NC
NASCAR will no longer police the practice of bump-drafting at Talladega and Daytona. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
The hounds have been unleashed.

“Boys, have at it and have a good time,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “That’s all I can say.”

Pemberton referred to racing at Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway, two of NASCAR’s fastest and most popular tracks. In recent seasons, NASCAR has clamped down on aggressive racing – specifically, the art of bump-drafting – at those tracks, angering drivers and fans. Beginning with next month’s Daytona 500, officials will take a much more relaxed approach to policing such activity.

Teams also will be using a bigger engine restrictor plate – 63/64ths of an inch – at Daytona, the largest plate since the 1989 season. That change is expected to give drivers better throttle response and a bump in horsepower and, in theory, will create more competitive racing.

NASCAR’s changes, announced Thursday as part of the Sprint Cup Series Media Tour, are designed to improve the quality of racing in response to lower attendance figures at most tracks and nagging complaints from fans and many in the garage.

Officials said racing at the tour’s super-fast tracks is being returned to the control of the drivers and that they will have greater latitude in competition.

“It’s in the drivers’ hands,” Pemberton said. “I think it’s all about how aggressive they feel they can get to make a pass and how much real estate they can take up. It’s back in their hands. I think anything can happen.”

Pemberton said officials also considered making changes to the so-called yellow-line rule at Daytona and Talladega but decided to keep it in place. The rule penalizes drivers who go inside the yellow line to advance positions and was put in place primarily as a safety factor, limiting drivers’ aggressiveness on the edge of the racing surface.

“In talking to drivers and owners, the general consensus is the yellow line needs to stay,” Pemberton said. “We’ll look at it at a later date.”

NASCAR Chairman Brian France said off-season discussions with drivers, team owners and track operators underlined the conclusion that the sport needs to be “opened up.”

“Everybody’s talking about one thing – this is a contact sport,” France said. “What are the things we can do to make it better, to open it up a bit? We’re going to have an eye on putting things back in the drivers’ hands. They’re going to mix it up a little differently because we’re going to loosen up. The goal is to make very good racing better.

“We want to see more contact. We want to see the drivers mixing it up. We want to see the emotions of the world’s best drivers.”

The quality of racing has been criticized by news media outlets, including even some of the television “partners” who have contracts with NASCAR, and fans, and Thursday’s moves were seen as a very public response to those comments.

Talladega Superspeedway president Rick Humphrey said his office fielded numerous calls from fans complaining about last fall’s race at Talladega. “The level of competition and lead changes and all was still high but just not what fans had been accustomed to at Talladega,” he said. “This should address those concerns. And we’re going to do our best to make sure everybody out there knows about it.”

NASCAR also confirmed during a press conference at its Research and Development Center that veteran Sprint Cup Series director John Darby is being promoted to Managing Director of Competition and will have oversight over NASCAR’s three national series. Darby’s replacement has not been named.

Also, it was announced that the Camping World Truck Series will move to double-file restarts for the new season, making restart rules uniform across the three national series. Truck teams also will return to traditional pit stops as NASCAR eliminated last year’s procedure of refueling and changing tires on separate stops.

Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale: Jan 19th-24th
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