pandr
09-22-2011, 10:06 PM
Inside Motorsports: Stop changing the rules
Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Wednesday, Sep. 21, 2011
There are certainly many things that change once the Chase for the Sprint Cup gets underway.
The rules, however, should not be one of them.
NASCAR on Wednesday announced it was making two rule changes for next month’s running of the Oct. 23 Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
The size of the restrictor plate teams will use that weekend will be increased by 1/64 of an inch to 57/64ths of an inch diameter. This will provide the teams with an additional 7-10 horsepower. In addition, the pressure relief valve on the cars’ cooling system will be recalibrated to reduce the pressure by approximately eight pounds per square inch.
The changes will provide teams more power and force them to spend less pushing in two-car tandems.
“We anticipate these revisions in the rules package for Talladega will help continue to provide competitive and exciting racing for the fans,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition.
Pemberton may well be right. I, for one, have been no fan of the two-car drafting, particularly at a time in the sport when 12 drivers are vying for a championship. Can you imagine one title contender having to rely on another to win a race?
However, changing the rules in the middle of the season and after the Chase has started is not right. Three restrictor-plate races were run under one set of rules and those races were used to qualify for the Chase. Now, you’re changing how the only restrictor-plate race in the Chase is run.
Yes, “it will be the same for everyone” – as the usual explanation that’s given for such instances goes. However, something bad for everyone is still bad.
Teams raced a certain way under certain rules to fight for the chance to win a championship. Now, those same teams are being asked to throw that out the window and try something new.
What if it turns out to be worse? How do you explain determining the champion of NASCAR’s biggest series through experimentation?
In the end, NASCAR is doing the right thing by reducing the reliance on two-car drafting tandems. It’s just going about it at the wrong time.
C/P Thata Racin
Jim Utter - charlotteobserver
Wednesday, Sep. 21, 2011
There are certainly many things that change once the Chase for the Sprint Cup gets underway.
The rules, however, should not be one of them.
NASCAR on Wednesday announced it was making two rule changes for next month’s running of the Oct. 23 Good Sam Club 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
The size of the restrictor plate teams will use that weekend will be increased by 1/64 of an inch to 57/64ths of an inch diameter. This will provide the teams with an additional 7-10 horsepower. In addition, the pressure relief valve on the cars’ cooling system will be recalibrated to reduce the pressure by approximately eight pounds per square inch.
The changes will provide teams more power and force them to spend less pushing in two-car tandems.
“We anticipate these revisions in the rules package for Talladega will help continue to provide competitive and exciting racing for the fans,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition.
Pemberton may well be right. I, for one, have been no fan of the two-car drafting, particularly at a time in the sport when 12 drivers are vying for a championship. Can you imagine one title contender having to rely on another to win a race?
However, changing the rules in the middle of the season and after the Chase has started is not right. Three restrictor-plate races were run under one set of rules and those races were used to qualify for the Chase. Now, you’re changing how the only restrictor-plate race in the Chase is run.
Yes, “it will be the same for everyone” – as the usual explanation that’s given for such instances goes. However, something bad for everyone is still bad.
Teams raced a certain way under certain rules to fight for the chance to win a championship. Now, those same teams are being asked to throw that out the window and try something new.
What if it turns out to be worse? How do you explain determining the champion of NASCAR’s biggest series through experimentation?
In the end, NASCAR is doing the right thing by reducing the reliance on two-car drafting tandems. It’s just going about it at the wrong time.
C/P Thata Racin