Sprint Cup drivers high on new rules package after Atlanta test
NASCAR's new-for-2015 Sprint Cup Series rules package got its first real-world shakedown Thursday at Atlanta Motor Speedway during an extended test session in advance of Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at the 1.54-mile speedway.
And the good news is the package got generally favorable reviews.
To recap the changes, this year Sprint Cup cars have: A smaller rear spoiler and front pan that produce 17 percent less aerodynamic downforce in the rear and 7 percent less up front; roughly 725 horsepower instead of last year's 850, thanks to tapered spacers and more restrictive rear-end gearing to limit RPMs; and a driver-adjustable track bar inside the cockpit.
How these changes will affect the on-track product is something that only time will tell. Still, early returns from Atlanta are encouraging.
"My car didn't feel hugely different," said Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle. "I could tell it's got less power, but it wasn't like, 'Oh my gosh, this is a whole different car.' ... It felt pretty normal, so it's not a huge change, which is good for the sport and good for what we've got coming up."
Second-year driver Kyle Larson echoed Biffle's sentiment.
"I really didn't notice anything," Larson said. "I thought it still came up to speed pretty well. Maybe it doesn't carry to the end of the straightaway as hard as what it did before, but we have less downforce too. It still feels fast. Maybe once we get to like a Michigan or a track where we will probably run even more wide open now, we will notice more. I really didn't notice much difference between this year versus last year."
Carl Edwards, who before this year was Biffle's teammate but now drives a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, said the speeds between last year and now are fairly comparable.
"These cars just get faster and faster and they still have a big splitter and a big spoiler and real sticky tires," said Edwards. "Even when you take away a little bit of power, we're making so much speed in the middle of the corner, it's really fast there. I think NASCAR is heading in the right direction by cutting the spoilers down. I think the farther we go in that direction, the better it's going to get."
Edwards was less sanguine about the driver-adjustable track bar, which alters the car's handling from inside the cockpit.
"To be honest with you, I think that's going to be an opportunity for us drivers to screw ourselves up more than it is to help us," he said. "I ended up playing with it for a few laps and then put it right back where it was, because it wasn't doing exactly what I wanted it to do. My switch is on my steering wheel, which I want it to be easy to get to. The one thing I'm nervous about is inadvertently laying on it during the race. That could be disastrous.
"The other thing that makes me nervous is the switch sticking or something, and having your track bar go all the way to one end or the other. So I probably will not mess with mine too much."
Thursday, Session One Speeds
Thursday, Session Two Speeds
