How equal is the new superspeedway aero package?
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
January 20, 2002
11:51 AM EST (1651 GMT)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Determining the legitimacy of NASCAR’s new aerodynamic package for Daytona and Talladega all depends on whom you ask.
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Ford teams consistently tested slow at Daytona.
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Throughout the entirety of manufacturer testing at Daytona International Speedway, Chevrolet and Dodge consistently posted the best times, leaving those in the Ford camp frustrated, confused and frantically searching for answers.
When asked to comment on Ford’s lack of competitiveness Friday, championship car owners Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress, both of whom place Chevrolets on the racetrack, pulled handkerchiefs from their pockets and mockingly wiped their eyes.
No tears shed there.
Three-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Jarrett discussed the aero package Saturday morning at the Winston Cup preview.
“Right now, we’re a little behind. Why? I’m not totally sure,” Jarrett said. “Obviously, you look at (Robert Yates’) engine program and I’d venture to say we’re not behind there. So we may have an aero thing. Collectively, that’s a Ford theory. I’m not sitting here complaining or whining or whatever, but that’s what it is. It’s fact. Look down the (time) sheet.”
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NASCAR continues to experiment with the height of rear spoilers.
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The time sheet says this: 10 Chevrolets, three Dodges and a Pontiac are in the top-14. The first Ford? Geoffrey Bodine’s lap on the first day of the first session that placed him 15th overall. Jarrett, who won the 2000 Daytona 500 under a similar rules package, was 25th.
Some say the blue oval boys are sandbagging.
“I was reading the paper coming down here where Rick Hendrick and Richard Childress seem to think that we’re not showing everything,” Jarrett scoffed. “Believe me, I would have put any one of their drivers in my car at Daytona and let them drive around.
“Maybe their wide open is a better wide open than mine. But every time I left the pits at Daytona it was as hard as I could go. Whether anybody was holding anything back, I don’t think so. I can assure you, there were a couple times I tried to push it through the floorboard because I was so frustrated.”
NASCAR finally relented, and toyed with a few experimental changes. First they cut a quarter-inch off the Ford spoiler. That pulled them a bit closer. NASCAR then cut another quarter-inch, which again narrowed the proverbial playing field. Overall, Ford picked up three-tenths of a second.
“We need a half-inch off the rear spoiler just to be competitive,” said Rusty Wallace. “Believe me, if it’s not fair I’ll be up in there complaining. The late Dale Earnhardt was the king of that. I remember Dale saying once that Bill (France) Sr. would roll over in his grave if he saw this. I might be using that same comment.”
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