Take a look at what NASCAR tried during the test at Phoenix Raceway
NASCAR has been actively working to improve their short track package. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the sanction hosted a test session with six different teams at Phoenix Raceway.
Multiple aerodynamic configurations and Goodyear tire combinations were installed. After the test, NASCAR has loads of data to sift through to make a decision on changes.
Initially, NASCAR had plans to test a new gearbox for the final day of the test. It was designed to reduce shifting. However, those plans were scrapped after drivers noting that shifting at Phoenix was less of an issue.
Images from the test have surfaced. Cars were fitted with drastically simplified rear diffusers with two aluminum rakes. NASCAR also tested a new front spittler.
Ryan Blaney comments
“Yeah, a big difference,” Blaney said Tuesday.
“We unloaded exactly how we were here in the fall with this car, ran a couple hours on it and the different splitter, big difference. Massive. Like the way it drives. With that, there’s so much downforce taken off of it. Yeah, the first laps I had, I was like, man, this thing drives way different.”
“It should. I mean, it’s a massive aero loss when you do that. And then the simple diffuser wasn’t as big of a change as the splitter, but it was still something to feel. But that front splitter was a huge change, and hopefully we can continue to tweak it a little bit, get it a little better.”
Erik Jones comments
“Tire stuff was really good,” Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club said.
“I thought we learned a lot with that in the beginning of the day. I think Goodyear’s got some good notes from that and probably is gonna apply to a lot of places.
“This isn’t really a tire test, but of all the tires I’ve tested over my career, by far probably today was the biggest I’ve noticed a difference.”
NASCAR comments
“I think our goal is to have some direction coming out of here,” Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, NASCAR’s vice president of vehicle performance, told reporters Tuesday.
“I’ve never gone to a test and walked out like, ‘Oh my god, this is great. This is what we’re doing.’ It’s a tough thing to do, right?”
“It’s only six cars and there’s no money and points on the line. But I think for us, it’s coming out of here with direction on the tire, coming out with direction on the aero package that, yes, this is going to be neutral to positive.”
“And then any other things that we’ve learned along the way. And then (Wednesday), we’ll be running mufflers, so making sure (when) we go to LA, we’re not going to have anything unexpected.”
“When we came out of Richmond and were changing aero packages, they felt the same. We could have told them it was the same (package),” Jacuzzi said.
“And today, everybody said I definitely noticed the downforce. Like I said, we got some interesting comments to kind of parse through of it was easier to cross the wake or different things. So it seemed like definitely the faster speeds here manifested more of what we expected at Richmond.”
“Again, ultimately, Richmond wasn’t really where we wanted to do that test, but (a rainout at) New Hampshire happened. So it’s definitely a difference. Nobody’s saying, ‘Hey, I didn’t notice your aero package.’ “
NASCAR is fighting the aerodynamic advantages with new aerodynamic disadvantages
