NASCAR Cup Series

'Spoiler' alert: That blade on the back of the Gen-6 really matters

Published Jan. 9, 2014 9:25 a.m. ET

Jeff Hammond

I'm not surprised that NASCAR made the slight spoiler change during the offseason for the superspeedway races. Remember back one year ago to testing down here in Daytona when it seemed like cars were getting turned on the racetrack in a blink of an eye. So, adding this new half-inch of spoiler on the back should make these cars more stable and put the feel back into the driver's hands a little more.

I think this will make for more aggressive driving. Now when I say that, I am meaning that drivers will be more willing to pass and not have that fear all the time that their car won't be under them when they do. So, I think that will be good all around.

So, we're back to it. We're in Daytona testing until Saturday. All these teams have come down with their own agendas. I don't know that we'll see a lot of folks going out to draft. I think we'll still see some, but I expect to see a lot of single-car runs. Rusty Wallace is back to Daytona. He is testing a car for Penske Racing. He told me he was strictly here for single-car runs.

Last year down here, we saw some incredible speeds, and I know that is a concern to NASCAR. Even when we ran the Daytona 500, we were seeing speeds well over 200 mph. So, I think the speeds will be slower but the cars will be more drivable and the drivers should feel more comfortable when we come back in February.