Transcript: Gary Nelson, NASCAR Winston Cup director

February 15, 2001
11:04 AM EST (1604 GMT)

Gary Nelson, NASCAR's Winston Cup director, took time to answer fans' questions during a live chat. Catch up with this transcript.

Gary Nelson at 4:09pm ET Hi race fans and racers on NASCAR Online. I think this is a great site.

Linda Maddox at 4:12pm ET When you first took the job as NASCAR Winston Cup Series Director, you stated one of your main goals would be to do away with restrictor plates at Talladega and Daytona. Why hasn't more of an effort been placed on doing away with the plates? Everyone states the fans love this type of racing, but we really don't, it's a terrible way for the drivers to race. What is being done to do away with the plates?

Gary Nelson at 4:13pm ET I, as a crew chief, hated the restrictor plates. My goal was to get rid of them. I think I've been working pretty hard at that. What I keep finding, though, is through all our testing -- and we've done a lot -- we haven't found anything better. I still don't like it, but I haven't found anything I like better.

Shawn at 4:09pm ET Is there a plan to change Bud Second-Round Qualifying procedures from the current format? If so, what will the new format be and when will it be implemented?

Gary Nelson at 4:11pm ET There is not a plan in place now, so it's hard to speculate. I can tell you a couple of the ideas kicked around. One is all cars out of the top-25 would requalify on the second round. Another thought was no second round at all, just one round on Friday. Another idea was to leave it like it is. As always, each has its merits. When you really analyze, when 48 cars shows up for a 43-car field, five will go home. It's hard to please everybody.

Laura B. at 4:11pm ET What conclusion, if any, did the aerodynamics tests yesterday at Talladega show? Anything that would please the drivers unhappy with the restrictor plates?

Gary Nelson at 4:12pm ET We found through testing with two cars that the restrictor plate is still going to be necessary. We were not able to find any aerodynamic adjustments or changes that added enough drag to take off the restrictor plate.

Chris C. at 4:15pm ET Why are some races allowed to end under caution, while others (i.e. the Richmond race a couple of years ago) are red flagged to allow a "green flag" finish? Shouldn't all races end under green, since the precedent was set?

Gary Nelson at 4:17pm ET There's a critical point in the races. We do our best to finish every race under green. At Richmond, there happened to be just enough laps left to do that. But there's a point at other races where that window closes. You can't run longer than the advertised distance. Knowing that, the only option we have is to stop with a red flag, clean up the track and turn them loose again. That requires a lap to slow them down, one to speed them up again, a white flag and a checkered flag. We try to get that green flag finish.

Linda Maddox at 4:18pm ET Will there be changes in qualifying? Such as a policy where teams will be forced to do away with special qualifying set up and saving the smaller teams money. In other words, a team must run what they bring -- qualifying and race set up must be the same.

Gary Nelson at 4:20pm ET The biggest point on that is the engine. The Busch Grand National Series has a rule they put in place where the competitors must race the engine they qualify. Cup races are 30 percent longer and many teams put a new engine so they can make it to the end. That's one of the problems. We're concerned at the Winston Cup level that the pressure to make the race for the back running teams that they would still qualify a qualifying engine and get themselves in the field where someone who had a race engine would have been. The solution might be to make them take a penalty if they switch engines and go to the back.

Matt Chappell at 4:20pm ET I want to know what is the reason for the penalties being levied to teams that don't have the right side tires back over the wall before the car leaves the pit? I know they have had problems earlier in the season, but the way I understood it the teams were not clearly told of the new rule and it resulted in teams getting penalized. Why can't the rule be that as long as the crew member has the tire in his possesion in the pit stall it is OK? That seems more logical. That would cut down on lenghty pit stops and you could still penalize if the member was not clearly in the parameters of their own pit stall.

Gary Nelson at 4:22pm ET The penalty is, under caution, you must go to the end of the line for restart if you leave any of your tires on the outside part of your pit box. It's a stop and go under green. It's really worked well the last couple of races, especially as teams learn the rule and whether there's a gray area. I only saw one tire at Talladega where last October I might have seen 10-15 over the course of the race.

Dale at 4:22pm ET Why can't NASCAR let the teams run the manufactures bodies. In the '80s when the cars were on the track you knew a Chevy from a Ford and thats was the appeal. Know they all look alike (boring) except for decals. Let them run what they have and to heck with the manufacturer who can't keep up. What is your position on common templates?

Gary Nelson at 4:24pm ET I'm not a big supporter of common templates. But I do think the cars look much like they do on the street. What you made to realize is that they look a lot alike on the street these days too. There was a time I remember when all but three cars on the tour were Buicks. That may not be the best for the sport -- to have all teams running the same make of car. NASCAR does body adjustments on each manufacturer to make them all competitive.

Jeffrey J. Michigan at 4:25pm ET Does NASCAR do any regulating with the tires from Goodyear? And if so, how?

Gary Nelson at 4:25pm ET We're not tire engineers. But we do monitor and control that the tires are chosen for each competitor at random. We oversee that. When it comes to the design and shape and technical parts of the tire, we leave that to the experts.

SKINNERFAN4LIFE at 4:26pm ET Why aren't restrictor plates used at Pocono or Indianapolis?

Gary Nelson at 4:27pm ET Pocono and Indy are tracks similar in distance to Daytona and Talladega, but the banking is much less. The drivers really have to let off the throttle. The drivers are in a constant state of throttle at Daytona and Talladega.

Gordon D at 4:27pm ET Do you ever find yourself missing being a crew chief?

Gary Nelson at 4:29pm ET Ya, Gordon, I miss the winning part every time I walk by the Winner's Circle and see the guys celebrating. But it got to where you win two or three a year and work the other 362 days a year. All top crew chiefs do that day and night. The Winston Cup director job does not give me that much of a break, but the lows of being a crew chief are much lower. When you lose, it really effects you. The director job, you really don't have a win or loss. We look at safety. Although the highs aren't as high, the lows aren't as low either.

James at 4:29pm ET How are you involved in the testing of the new Dodge?

Gary Nelson at 4:31pm ET James, they haven't done any testing yet. We're working with them. We stop in and see the Dodge team that's building the first car. As with any of the new cars we've done in the past, what really counts is when they submit the car for approval. The car can only be approved when NASCAR feels it can be equal to the cars already on the track. We're working hard to hit that bullseye.

Louie at 4:32pm ET I heard a story about you putting Buckshot Jones in someone's car for inspection with a mechanism to release it once on the track. Is this true?

Gary Nelson at 4:32pm ET My memory is becoming fuzzy on that. I'll have to refer to the next question.

Harold at 4:33pm ET What are some of your favorite racing memories?

Gary Nelson at 4:34pm ET That's a good question. I've got so many. The two Daytona 500 memories are No. 1 if you link them. The best single memory I have is sitting at the head table at the banquet as the champion's crew chief. We decided that weekend to wear tuxedos to the banquet and it was the first time. The next year it was mandatory.

I've enjoyed chatting with all of you NASCAR fans. Thank you for logging on. I hope to see you at the races.