LONG POND, Pa. – If it were up to Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski, he wouldn’t wait any longer for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to incorporate the aerodynamic changes used in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race into the Sprint Cup competition package.
In particular, Keselowski favors removing the “skew” or rear axle offset that is allowed under current rules but likely won’t be permitted in the 2017 configuration.
“I am 100 percent of the belief that the All-Star rules package as it pertains to some of the really technical items that control the skew on the car should immediately be implemented everywhere,” Keselowski said on Friday at Pocono Raceway. “I know there are a lot of technical terms in those updates that are may be hard to understand, but I think the basic explanation is that those updates or rules updates are meant to take aerodynamic performance away from the car.
“That’s exactly what the skew does. It adds five or 10-percent aero potential in the car and in doing so dramatically increases the wake behind the car when you have more skew–and taking it out reduces the wake. It is kind of similar between the difference between following a car on the freeway and following a truck. That is the easiest explanation.”
Keselowski felt a noticeable difference between the All-Star package, which will be used on a test basis in upcoming Sprint Cup races at Michigan and Kentucky, and the current 2016 configuration, which was used a week later in the Coca-Cola 600.
“The difference I felt between the two races was that the aerodynamic wake that you can’t see, because it is air, was smaller and more forgiving in the All-Star race,” Keselowski said. “And I think that’s why you saw the racing you did in that race and not so much in the 600.
“I think we have a really strong direction. It’s great that we were able to run those two races back to back on the same track to get that comparison and hopefully everyone else in the sport can agree on that. … I’m a big-time supporter of continuing to take the aerodynamics away from the car to increase the ability to pass in the race.”
Later Friday Keselowski won the pole for Sunday’s race.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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