NASCAR Cup Series

EXCLUSIVE: Crew chiefs discuss the 2015 Sprint Cup rules package

Published May. 18, 2015 4:30 p.m. ET

foxsports

The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rules package has come under fire by some competitors over the last few weeks.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Carl Edwards said to put on the best racing the series needs to "be running an extremely different package."

Michael Waltrip Racing's Clint Bowyer said the 2015 rules were "kind of exactly opposite" of what drivers asked for. They are certainly not alone.

However, NASCAR senior vice president of competition and racing development Robin Pemberton told FOXSports.com the sanctioning body is pleased with what they have seen out of the current configuration.

"I think we're pretty happy with the package," Pemberton said Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "I think we've got a number of different winners this year already, and we're on a good pace for a lot of different winners. You'll never get 100 percent across-the-board agreement on any type of package you have. I think it's normal."

While the drivers have been vocal about the new rules and the racing they have produced, the crew chiefs in the garage remain focused on making the most out of what they have.

"That's one thing I'm not very opinionated on," said All-Star Race winning crew chief Dave Rogers. "My job is to take the rules package they give us and provide Denny (Hamlin) with the fastest car I know how. That's what I focus on."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, Greg Ives, is in his first Sprint Cup season atop the pit box, but believes the issues drivers are complaining about and the lack of passing are on the teams to fix, not NASCAR.

"I think there are areas we could work to get them better, but that's on the teams," said Ives, who graded the 2015 package as a B or B+. "I don't think that is anything NASCAR can do about it. It's more or less us getting our cars more competitive. You've seen some great races over the last few weeks and even from the start of the year."

During Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race, clean air was once again the key to victory. Despite Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch having two of the fastest cars all night long, neither could overcome the aero-dependence to make a move on Hamlin for the win.

"All of the teams have worked so hard on making our cars better aerodynamically. As you learn about that you're able to make your cars better," Brad Keselowski's crew chief Paul Wolfe told FOXSports.com. "The cars now are so dependent on air that's kind of what you base your setup around. Then you get in a big pack and you don't have any air, so now what do you have? You have a car that doesn't drive very good and it's hard to pass.

"I feel like taking away some of that aero-dependency and trying to find some grip in the tires could potentially make it better, but that's a tough balance," he said. "It takes a lot of good testing to determine it that will fix it."

Wolfe also said the in-car driver-adjustable track bar is another reason passing cars with the 2015 package has become so difficult. With drivers now able to adjust on the car throughout the run, Wolfe believes "that potentially takes away the comers-and-goers."

Coupled with that, Rogers said with each driver racing as hard as they can lap after lap there is little room for give-and-take.

"It's great for the sport to have side-by-side racing, but the sport has changed a lot," Rogers said. "The equipment is so much better, the engineering staffs are so much stronger, so teams are able to push their cars for 500 miles and typically it all holds up. These drivers are young and aggressive, and there is no holding back. They're all out there racing 100 percent all of the time."

Rogers pointed out the new Chase format and point system creates that environment of racing hard all of the time.

"You're racing for wins," he said. "You're really not racing for top fives and top 10s any more, you're trying to win the race so you're giving it everything you've got every single lap. When a guy is giving everything he's got, he's not going to give you an inch and it's going to be hard to get by him."

Looking ahead to the 2016 rules package, Wolfe said he would like to see NASCAR work with Goodyear and the teams to provide a tire that grips better.

"To do that, we've got to slow the speeds down so the tire lasts," he said. "The only way to do that is to take a little bit of downforce off them. As we put downforce on the cars they go faster, it's pretty simple. To get on a softer tire I think you'd have to take downforce away."

The 2012 championship winning crew chief said that could be accomplished by taking away some rear spoiler and utilizing a smaller radiator pan.

"Overall, I feel like this year's package was some of that, but the problem was a lot of the tracks we're at we were already on edge with the tire we had," Wolfe said. "It's hard for Goodyear to say, 'You guys took some downforce off the cars and now we can bring a softer tire.' The tire we were on in 2014, we were having issues and failures at places. They couldn't afford to bring a tire with more grip to a lot of these tracks. Right now we haven't been able to see a big difference from 2014."

While some drivers and fans have bemoaned the new package and the racing it has created, Rogers said that is just part of the sport.

"At the end of the day the question is, are we putting on good races? Are fans excited? I think there have been some good races," he said. "Is every race a home run? No. But not every basketball game is a slam-dunk either. I think NASCAR's done a good job of trying to change things up and find the magical recipe that gives up exciting racing more times than not, but it doesn't work out that way every single race, and that's just sports. I'm OK with that."