Tandem will be taboo on big tracks in Nationwide series

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JANUARY 12: Kyle Larson, driver of the #32 Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet leads Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during NASCAR Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway on January 12, 2014 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/NASCAR via Getty Images)
Spread the love
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JANUARY 12:  Kyle Larson, driver of the #32 Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet leads Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during NASCAR Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway on January 12, 2014 in Daytona Beach, Florida.  (Photo by Jerry Markland/NASCAR via Getty Images)
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – JANUARY 12: Kyle Larson, driver of the #32 Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet leads Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during NASCAR Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway on January 12, 2014 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jerry Markland/NASCAR via Getty Images)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.–What a new Nationwide Series competition package can’t accomplish, as far as tandem drafting is concerned, NASCAR will govern by edict.

Both the sanctioning body and the NNS drivers believe a shorter spoiler and a new cooling package, both mandated for superspeedways this year, will minimize two-car hookups with one car pushing another.

Beyond that, NASCAR informed Nationwide teams in an October meeting that locking bumpers in a tandem draft will be policed and prohibited.

“They made it very clear, that if we tandem at all, both cars will be black-flagged,” driver Elliott Sadler said Saturday.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. 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.