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NASCAR Changes Expects Exciting Shootout
NASCAR will kick off the 2010 season this Saturday night when the green flag drops at the Budweiser Shootout from the Daytona International Speedway. With the dawn of a new season, NASCAR has implied some rule changes to spice up the competition and satisfy some of the viewing audience’s demands. Possibly the most important change or claim, is that governing officials have stated that they will return back to their roots in attempt to bring true racing back to the track. Over the past few years, NASCAR has been really harsh inflicting penalties for on-track confrontations and not allowing drivers to show true emotions. The irony is those raw emotions, aggressive driving, and tempers flaring is what made the sport famous. Fans have begged for that passion to return and NASCAR is finally listening.
Supposedly NASCAR will be much more lenient towards on track behavior and allow drivers to openly show their frustration towards other drivers more than they have allowed in year’s past. Safety has always been a big concern for the NASCAR after some dangerous and fatal wrecks overshadowed the sport for many years. However with all the new safety equipment put into place in recent years, injuries from wrecks have seen dramatic drops. Therefore, NASCAR can finally release their tight restraints and let the drivers go at it. One rule change that encourages the movement is the restraint on bump drafting will be lifted starting this week at Daytona. NASCAR monitored bump drafting very closely at Daytona and Talladega last year trying to reduce risky actions that would lead to big accidents. However, it hurt the racing severely. Drivers kept in single file lines for the majority of the race and did not mix things up until the closing laps of the race. Ratings dropped and fans were turned away from the displeasing revolutionizing governing body. Drivers themselves could not be aggressive with the overshadowing threat of being penalized for the bump drafting and NASCAR most popular super speedways suddenly became somewhat boring at times. However with no restrictions on bump drafting, drivers will have more free will to push bump drafting to the limit which should dice up the competition and perhaps even cause tempers to boil.
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Another big change that will be in effect this Saturday night is under the hood of the race cars. Daytona and Talladega are known as the restrictor plate tracks due to restrictor plates put over the carburetors to reduce air flow to the engine. Therefore, it keeps speeds down and in theory safer for the drivers. However, restrictor plates have bunched up the competition at the super speedway tracks giving nearly every driver in the field a shot at victory given they can be up front at the right time. New changes this week will provide the biggest restrictor plates seen in many years. The bigger restrictor plates will increase horsepower and throttle response for drivers. The change in the way the car reacts to more horsepower should help the faster cars and prevent the “crap shoot” style race seen in recent years. Therefore, some of the normal top drivers at the super speedways like Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and even Dale Earnhardt Jr should be leading contenders given their strong records at both Daytona and Talladega. With more horsepower and less restrictions on bump draft, things are bound to get exciting. Add to the fact that this will be a non-points race, with a big paycheck for the winner and those raw emotions NASCAR is looking for may certainly come out before the checker flag is waived this Saturday night. This year’s Budweiser Shootout should benefit from all the new changes in more ways than one and provide a truly exciting spectacle under the lights from the most famous speedway in the world, Daytona.
By Jay Horne
Pro Racing Fans Staff Writer
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