CONCORD, N.C.— Admittedly, Sprint Cup drivers haven’t raced in heavy traffic since NASCAR mandated shorter side skirts for the cars, but in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race practice and qualifying Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, most drivers felt little or no difference in the way their cars performed.
NASCAR required crews to trim the side skirts on their cars one inch on the right side and an inch and a half on the left, thereby increasing the ground clearance. The result is a decrease in downforce and stability, though the difference isn’t profound.
“I think there was a little bit of a different feel, sure” said Kyle Busch, who won the pole for the All-Star Race. “Any time you take downforce off a car, you’ll feel it a little bit. Surprisingly, though, we didn’t see the lap times slow down as much as we anticipated maybe.
“Based off practice speeds, we ran the same practice time last year to this year. It might just be the progression — or the tire, because the tire’s a different tire, too, and maybe that played a little bit into it. But, overall, it’s a little different feel, but it’s not a big swing.”
Michael Waltrip Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. thought it was tough to make a comparison with previous trips to Charlotte because of changing track conditions and the continued development of the current-generation racecar.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t feel a big difference from what we’ve been racing,” Truex said. “Obviously, we haven’t been here since last year. I felt like the track was a little bit different than it was here last year — getting a little rougher — and I think it’s lost a little bit of grip, too.
“With those little differences out there, it’s hard to compare. Our cars are so much different than they were here a year ago, as far as our stuff at MWR, so it’s really hard to compare apples to apples, (but) to be honest, I didn’t really feel a big difference from what we’ve been feeling the rest of the season.”
Carl Edwards, a proponent of reducing downforce, said he felt no difference at all.
“I didn’t run around any other cars or anything, but I didn’t notice anything,” Edwards said. “If they wouldn’t have talked about it a little bit and told me before practice what was going on, I wouldn’t have known — so no effect from where I sit.”
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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