Kevin Harvick on the All-Star race: “I think when you look at NASCAR in 5 years. I think you’ll look back and say it looks like this and it all started here.”
That race was badass. Who knew a 1.5-mile could be so entertaining? I certainly didn’t see that coming at all. I knew it would be better. I just didn’t expect it to be that great.
The aero ducts moved air to the trailing car. Air being removed from the nose of the trailing car was drastically reduced. The need for downforce in general was also reduced as there was enough there already with the larger spoiler.
At the same time, the restrictor plate was there to make air less effective on the cars. The combination of those things created a fender banging race at a 1.5-mile oval.
The fans widely accepted the NASCAR All-Star package as well. Anyway, that package is probably the future of NASCAR.
How did it compare to a Superspeedway race?
“It was different. The only thing I could compare it too… Once it got strung out is Daytona of old. Before the repaved it,” Kevin Harvick stated after his win.
“Where you could dive to the bottom. The middle and top were still going to be faster and coming up on the outside of you.”
“I probably made a lot of moves that I shouldn’t have made. But, you’re trying to make something happen. The higher I would move up the race track, the tighter my car would get.”
“I could dive to the bottom and make good time on the bottom. But, when they would all line up on the top I wound up losing ground. Our strong points were the restarts. I was able to push and shove.”
“Doug Yates, when you put a restrictor plate on these engines… He’s just a guy that wants to pour every ounce he’s got into it. Everything’s going our way.”
The race was fantastic. Some fans want it right now. I’m certainly one of those because I’ve dreaded the 1.5-mile shows for years! But, Harvick has more patience than I do.
“As far as the package goes. I’d really like to make sure that we don’t just jump and say, ‘This is the save all. Do all package.’ ”
“I’d like to see it slowly transformed into points paying races. I just want to make sure that we cycle it in correctly. For the teams to be able to afford the things that need to be done to get the cars right.”
“Tonight’s race was very aggressive. This is the perfect spot to try stuff like this. The chance that NASCAR and Marcus [Smith] took to put this into the All-Star race is brave, bold.”
“I think when you look at NASCAR in 5 years. I think you’ll look back and say it looks like this and it all started here.”
More
Related: NASCAR discusses possible use of the aero package for 2019 or 2018
Related: NASCAR is pleased with the Charlotte aero package
Related: Announcement of the NASCAR All-Star restrictor plate package
Related: NASCAR is exploring a sale
