It’s time. After much anticipation, testing and preparation, the new NASCAR Nationwide Series car will appear in a race this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
Not only do the new models have all of the safety enhancements of the Cup car that debuted full-time in 2008, but it is also a chance for manufacturers to roll out a new car in the Nationwide ranks. Ford is returning the Mustang to racing while Dodge is bringing the Challenger and Chevrolet the Impala to the Nationwide ranks. The Toyota Camry will take on a sportier look in the series.
The car will be featured in four races this year, first this weekend at Daytona, then again at Michigan International Speedway in August, Richmond International Raceway in September and Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, before joining the series full time in 2011.
For those competing in the car -- and those manufacturing them -- this has been an exciting time. Throughout the testing sessions and previews of the rollout, drivers and representatives have been enthused about the cars and what they can bring to the series.
Ford is so excited to have the Mustang in the series that it has offered a 2011 Mustang GT production vehicle to any Ford driver who wins Friday night’s Subway Jalapeno 250.
First, the basics of the changes.
• Overall, the car is more similar to the production street models in look.
• The front of the car is wider than the current model and the headlight area is more vertical.
• The car has a splitter like the Cup cars and wheelbase has expanded from 105 to 110 inches.
• The cockpit is wider and taller, moving the driver closer to the center of the vehicle and giving him more head room.
• A larger roof allows for larger roof flaps and, therefore, more stability in a spin.
• The rear deck lid is higher than on the current cars to give more balance and stability and a 70-degree rear spoiler controls rear downforce.
• In terms of actual product, steel plating and energy-absorbing foam have been added to protect the driver from side impact and double frame rails add to the safety of the roll cage.
All of that creates a new model that has been the talk of the sport. In many ways, NASCAR took the new Cup car and actually improved on some areas about which drivers had complained, which could make for a smoother transition in the Nationwide ranks.
Now, at 1 p.m. ET, everyone hits the track for a four-hour practice session in preparation for Friday’s race.
And drivers -- both those relatively new to the sport and those with years of experience there -- are ready for it.
So what can people expect this weekend?
Drivers say anything, since the car seems freer on the race track.
Kevin Harvick is both a team owner and a driver in the Nationwide Series. He’s a two-time champion there and the current points leader in the Sprint Cup Series.
“The new Nationwide car, I mean, it's really a neat looking race car,” he says. “Climbing in and out of it, you realize how much more comfortable it is from a driver's standpoint to have more room in the safety aspects of it.
“. . . It's going to be a pretty neat race this weekend. The cars move around and slide around a lot. I'm really excited about the new car.”
Harvick says that it is difficult to base what he expects to see in the race from the test sessions because teams have had time to make improvements. Still, he expects the cars to handle more like the Cup ones on the track.
“I think they're going to be very similar to what you see with the Cup cars,” he said. “They're going to move around a lot. At the test they moved around a tremendous amount. But I think with everybody going home and working on their cars I think you're going to see a lot of people go home instead of worrying about how fast their cars are going they're going to worry about handling and I think it's going to be a great race. The cars look great. I'm excited about getting in them."
Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards agrees. He likes that the cars will handle a little different and thinks that racing in it at the other tracks later this year will offer more of a true view of what the car offers.
“The looser the car is better, so I think it’s gonna be pretty neat,” Edwards said. “Michigan will be the true test because that’s a really high-speed track -- the aero stuff will matter and you’ll be on and off the throttle, so that will be the true test. But our test at Daytona was loose, loose. I think it’s gonna be wild at Daytona, but it’ll be really good once we get to race it on a regular track.”
Manufacturers, meanwhile, are excited to bring specific models back to the series.
“We are very thrilled and excited, working with NASCAR to return some of the brand identity into the cars that are raced in comparison to the cars that we sell,” said Jamie Allison, director of Ford North America Motorsports.
Drivers are excited about both leveling the playing field and making it easier for new drivers to shine in the series.
While Harvick jokes that it will equal the playing field by taking away the dominant cars of Joe Gibbs Racing, others also point out that it could even the playing field among all drivers and make it easier for younger drivers to match the competition.
“Anytime you change something in this sport and anytime something is different or a big change, like that car, I think it gives guys with less experience more equal footing because I don’t have any experience racing that car and the other Cup guys don’t, either,” Edwards says. “It gives them a chance to maybe show their talent, instead of their experience level.”
And that has some of the younger guys even more excited about this new car.
As they begin practicing in it today, and then race in it Friday night, drivers seem excited by the car’s potential.
Diamond-Waltrip Racing’s Trevor Bayne just tested the car at the Milwaukee Mile and says it is a “driver’s race car."
“You can really hustle them. They’re just as quick as the old Nationwide car and I thought they were going to be about a half-a-second off when we were there testing, but they were actually just as fast,” he said. “They were a lot of fun through the center of the corner and they turn really well.
“The complaints of the (Cup new car) when it first came out were how tight it is so they took that, they fixed it for the Nationwide car now and it’s pretty unbelievable. I think the Daytona race is going to be a lot of crazy stuff happening just because they are so free. We were looking at our data from the test and we had more wheel to the right than I did to the left sometimes, but they’re fun to drive and I think it’s going to go back to making the cars handle rather than just go fast even at those superspeedways. They’re still easy to adjust so I think it’s going to be good racing.”
