NASCAR officially reduces downforce for 2016 Cup season
Rejoice. The downforce reductions fans and drivers wanted NASCAR to make for the 2016 season are happening.
NASCAR revealed the rules for next season Wednesday and the low downforce rules that were used at Darlington and Kentucky in 2015 will be the norm for 2016. The lower downforce reduced the cars’ grip and gave drivers more opportunities to maneuver their cars around the track and pass each other.
“NASCAR has worked tirelessly with our teams, drivers, manufacturers and Goodyear to develop a rules package that provides fans with the best racing possible,” NASCAR vice president Steve O’Donnell said in a statement “The success of the races at Kentucky and Darlington in similar trim proved extremely valuable in accelerating rules development for 2016. Now, as teams have even more time to prepare and a strong baseline of data, we anticipate the racing to be even better.”
The tireless work was necessary because NASCAR absolutely whiffed when it came to the rules for the 2015 season. The sanctioning body had reduced downforce while simultaneously reducing horsepower. Teams were able to manipulate the lost downforce back into cars and with the reduced horsepower, cornering speeds were actually up. The lack of throttle off-time combined with the aerodynamic grip produced by the cars made passing incredibly difficult.
Here’s a list of the changes NASCAR is making for next year. The current spoilers are 6-inches high. They’ll be cut nearly in half for 2016 like they were at Darlington and Kentucky. The reduced splitter lengths and radiator pan sizes will also help cut downforce. The changes are in effect for all but Daytona and Talladega, where the Cup Series cars run restrictor plates in the engines.
The sanctioning body should also be commended for not keeping the high-drag rules it tested during the Indianapolis and Michigan races this year. The rules tweaks were designed for cars to be able to draft each other and get a pass via a slingshot. The changes did not have the desired effects and might have even made passing harder.
Despite the rousing success of the low-downforce races before the Chase began, NASCAR (rightfully) stuck with the 2015 rules for the Chase.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
