Cup teams find near-seamless transition to rear spoiler
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Photo by Harold Hinson for Sporting News
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
CONCORD, N.C.—Ryan Newman, a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver with an engineering degree from Purdue, summed up Tuesday’s test session at Charlotte Motor Speedway most succinctly.
“No issues,” Newman said during a break in NASCAR’s first full-field test of the spoiler that will replace the rear wing, effective with Sunday’s Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
“(We’re) going back through all the things we used to do with the spoiler versus the wing,” Newman said. “It’s a good place to test the cars. We have a lot of data from the tests we’ve done in the past—especially with the tire tests here—to know we’re getting some good information for the rest of the season.”
For Kevin Harvick, the test did away with any notion that the transition to the spoiler would be inordinately difficult.
“For me personally, it was good to know and put out of my mind that the spoiler was going to be a drastic difference in the way that the car drove,” Harvick said. “That is not the case. The car has a lot of grip with the tire combination and the spoiler, so it drives really good.
“We went right to work on things that we needed to, because we felt comfortable with the car.”
Similarly, Kurt Busch said there was little difference between the way his No. 2 Dodge felt with the spoiler versus the wing, other than an increase in aerodynamic drag.
“It feels very stable with the spoiler on,” Busch said. “The biggest difference that I’ve noticed right away is that the car has a lot more drag, so we’re going slower down the straightaway, but we’ll probably end up maintaining good speed through the corners.
“With good stability and higher drag, I think that’s already promoting the difference that we’ve needed, and that’s going to help us run side by side better. Just looking at the tach, we’re running usually 9,400 (rpm), and my recall, it’s only been 9,200 (Tuesday).
“So NASCAR has to take a look at the gear that we’re running—not just here at Charlotte, but at all the racetracks—and how the gear and the spoiler are going to match each other for speed versus the drag.”
Busch’s words proved prophetic. Noting the lower rpm, NASCAR reinstated the gear ratios that were in place at Charlotte last year, and many teams made changes for the afternoon test session.
“We made a gear adjustment at Charlotte based on last year’s information, to try to put some of the rpm back,” said NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton. “Because of what we learned today, we’re already readjusting and going back to last year’s gear ratios to get the rpm up. The drivers will like that a little bit better.”
Notes: Early in the morning session, Juan Pablo Montoya ran his No. 42 Chevrolet with the wing to establish a baseline for the test and posted the fastest lap (185.976 mph) before the lunch break with that configuration. Sam Hornish Jr. was fastest in the morning with the spoiler at 185.893 mph. Paul Menard (185.312 mph) paced the afternoon session. … Fresh from his first Nationwide Series victory—Saturday at Bristol—Justin Allgaier, 23, got behind the wheel of a Cup car during Tuesday’s test session. He was 41st quickest among the 48 cars in the morning session, 24th fastest among the 47 in the afternoon.
