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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
HEMBREE: Tandem? Pack? Pick Your Draft And Move On
To borrow a NASCAR phrase, Daytona drafting remains a work in progress…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted February 18, 2012   Daytona Beach, FL
SPEED.com NASCAR Editor Mike Hembree is a veteran, award-winning motorsports journalist. (File Photo)
So, after the hours of testing and practice and analysis and high-level meetings, will Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout showcase the pack drafting that was a Daytona staple for so long, or will tandem drafting rule?

The best guess is that there will be some mix of the two, and that could be a problem.

It reared its head in practice Friday as an unusual mistake by Tony Stewart – one he admitted – caused a multi-car crash and sent four teams to backup cars for the Shootout, the first on-track competition of the new season.

NASCAR spent tons of time in the off-season trying to solve the tandem-drafting dilemma at Daytona and Talladega, working under the fear that fans will vote with their feet and stop attending plate-track races that are dominated by two-car hookups rolling around the track.

It was clear in practice Friday that drivers were not able to stay in two-car drafts as long as they were here last summer. In fact, some moved out of the tandem drafts after less than a lap. The problem is that NASCAR’s new aero package causes engines to heat up quickly, and drivers don’t want to risk stressing engines to the max in the two-car runs.

Drivers still anticipate, however, that the winner of next week’s Daytona 500 – the big prize of these two weeks – will be one of two cars in a double-up draft. That’s because the fastest laps still are logged by cars in two-car hookups, even if those hookups don’t last long.

So, it is anticipated that Saturday night’s Shootout will see some drivers testing the lengths of the two-car possibility and others seeing how their cars will work in the middle of a 15-car pack.

Chances are there will be positives to both and that the drivers who find the best mix will be in the best position to win Saturday night and next week in the twin qualifying races and the 500.

As teams try to figure out that mix, however, they will be driving through some unknown territory. Those who come out the other side unscathed will have the best shot at the big bucks over the next two weekends.

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