DILLNER: Draft Dodging

Sprint Cup

DILLNER: Draft Dodging

I don’t remember going into a Daytona 500 replete with so many unknowns across the board...

Bob Dillner | Posted January 21, 2011 Daytona Beach, FL

Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne draft with David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

As we waited out a weather delay Friday at Daytona International Speedway until after the lunch hour, I couldn’t help but think about how some teams missed the boat by not drafting yesterday in testing.

I don’t remember going into a Daytona 500 replete with so many unknowns across the board, the most significant being how race cars will respond in the draft with the newly-resurfaced track a new nose and a new race fuel. Given the importance of these three issues, I think teams should have drafted Thursday instead of opting for single-car runs, because no matter how much people think the new surface will negate the importance of handling, a poor-handling car likely won’t win the Daytona 500

Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano told me they already are beginning to feel the bumps on the track coming off of turn four, and if they can feel a dip more now than they did during December’s Goodyear tire test at Daytona, imagine how obvious those bumps will be a month from now after several races have been run on the track, including the Rolex 24. Additionally, there is a bit of a situation in turn three where the paver slid on the asphalt and created a little “character” on the track. Logano and Tony Stewart both told me that since they can feel that spot now, they’re really going to feel it in the race car by the end of 500 miles.

Furthermore, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series transitions to Sunoco Green 15 fuel, an ethanol fuel, in 2011, and teams need to get some fuel mileage readings with it. In talking to several engine specialists in the garage, including Danny Lawrence at Earnhardt-Childress Racing (ECR), the new fuel should immensely change pit strategy. While the fuel increases horsepower, it simultaneously reduces fuel mileage. Lawrence told me that despite all the computer models and testing at the shop, they need to be in the draft to ascertain accurate fuel mileage numbers.

The same goes for the new nose. While I don’t expect it to impact handling much more than last year’s switch from the rear wing to the rear spoiler did, when you combine it with the new surface and fuel, we could see larger differentials.

Yet only four or five cars took advantage of the opportunity to draft during the first day of testing. I think everyone feared the potential for the “big one” because if they tear up a car this week, they only have approximately two weeks to get it repaired and loaded onto the hauler for the opening of Speedweeks. Tearing up equipment is a relevant concern, but so is starting the biggest race of the year without adequate knowledge of the entire package.

Daytona is a different animal now. During the tire test, we saw cars four-wide, a spectacle nearly unheard of at Daytona, because the new pavement is so smooth. Talladega is one thing because it is so wide, but you can’t just wing four-wide at a track as narrow as Daytona. I’m hoping the weather holds and we see packs of 13 and 14 cars take a stab at the draft Friday afternoon and Saturday, because if we don’t, we could have packs of cars with huge problems when the Daytona 500 rolls around.

Bob Dillner is a reporter for NASCAR Victory Lane, NASCAR Live! and The SPEED Report, among other programs on SPEED. He also hosts NASCAR Race Hub and NASCAR in a Hurry – Monday Edition for the network. Dillner has covered numerous forms of motor sports since his teenage years and got his journalistic start writing for Speedway Scene and Area Auto Racing News at only 15 years old. Dillner, owner of 51 Sports and operator of short-track racing website www.51SportsRacing.com, is a car owner/driver in the Aaron’s Pro Challenge Series and a co-promoter for the Pro All-Star Series, a Late Model series in the South.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED