Tandem drafting has become a fine dance of two drivers connecting nose to tail at speeds over 200 mph to achieve an advantage over other race cars on the track.
But NASCAR’s recent decisions to decrease the airflow to the grill, limit the psi (pounds per square inch) in the pressure relief valves and then Wednesday’s switch to a smaller restrictor plate were designed to lower speeds and discourage the extended periods of two-car drafts that occurred in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout.
“Kevin Harvick pushed me for 25 laps the other night and did not have a problem with heating,” Jeff Burton said. “We knew he could do that but I don’t think they knew he could do that. Now they know, so at the end of the day I believe what their intention is, number one — they want us to go fast but we don’t need to go 206.
“There comes a point where enough is enough, so pulling the restrictor plate down we’re still going to go exceptionally fast but we don’t need to go that fast. We know what happens when we go that fast and it’s not good. We’re still going to go plenty fast. The quality of races is not going to be impeded by the restrictor plate. And the other two things will obviously make it harder to push longer. That potentially will bunch the pack back up and make it a bigger pack for longer.”
Despite all the changes cars will still be able to connect for a couple laps at a time — just not the extended runs witnessed on Saturday night. But the frequency of swapping will make the action more furious. Picking a partner will be paramount to a driver's success. Communication via radios and spotters to line up potential suitors will be vital.
While teammates might appear to be the way to go, Jamie McMurray’s car did not marry up to Juan Pablo Montoya’s the way he had hoped. The turbulence created between the cars literally broke the windshield of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shop Chevrolet as the pair drafted together prior to Montoya getting collected in a seven-car wreck on Lap 28.
McMurray describes hooking up for tandem drafting:
"It requires two guys to make that work. When you are pushing a guy and you enter a corner, the lead car will go higher than the car that’s behind. The car behind will take the bottom and the car that’s on the bottom will continue to be wide open until he’s clear of the guy that he’s passing. When that guy pulls down, the lead car has to let off the gas long enough to let him get there. The guy behind has to — it’s not wide open and hitting him, it’s wide open, brake pedal, roll up on him and then you start releasing the brake. It’s not like a THUMP, it’s a . . . hit. "
"(Slam-drafting) would be the worst thing you could do. When you do that, that just pushes him out ahead. It’s about being smooth. It takes two — and Juan and I were having a hard time getting together. We were hitting and hammering. For some reason, when I got behind Kurt I could (line up) every time. It was the way that he was rolling out of the gas and I was getting to him. A couple of times we had issues, but most of the time it was really good transitions. We worked really well together. "
Sunshine boy
Chris “Sunshine” Heroy was selected by Dale Earnhardt Jr. to be his crew chief for the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday.
Heroy, who is starting his eighth season with Hendrick Motorsports, worked as an engineer on the No. 88 Sprint Cup team with Earnhardt last season and has since returned to the No. 5 crew with Mark Martin.
“I’m excited,” Heroy said. “I’m happy to do it with Hendrick and JRM. Just being able to work with Dale, we worked so well together before and he was kind enough to give me this opportunity. He knows I want to be a crew chief.”
Heroy, 33, has a B.S. in Physics from Colorado College. Earnhardt’s Sprint Cup crew chief, Steve Letarte, was complimentary of Heroy.
“I’m where I am today because I was given a chance at Hendrick Motorsports,” Letarte said. “Chris has a remarkable amount of talent. I think it will be good.”
Numbers game
386 laps — Dale Earnhardt Jr. has led at Daytona of the 3,697 laps he has raced.
3 series — Michael Waltrip will race in this weekend at Daytona.
202.238 mph — What the Nationwide cars ran during Wednesday's second practice.
Say what?
Jeffrey Earnhardt reflects on his ride with Rick Ware: “I got a full season in the Truck series, what’s not to be happy about?”
