Why Change The Wing To The Spoiler?

By Chuck Abrams

Chuck Abrams

Once again, thanks to all the fans that wrote in and shared their thoughts about last week’s topics.

Mainly I heard about the ability to watch racing in the second half of the season once racing moves to ESPN.

There are no doubts many people who just have basic cable (or a dish) and no access to ESPN –- without opening up their wallets that is. And since you just can’t buy a specific channel, moving from basic to more expensive programming is not something that everyone can afford.

In a similar move, there is a new Showtime program called "Inside NASCAR", that will premiere on Feb. 10. It sounds as though it will be a nice show, but I am not going to pony up the money to add Showtime to my dish package. I have not heard any recent talk about NASCAR going to pay-per-view, but it is not out of the realm of possibility should TV viewership continue to slide.

As you should all know by now, NASCAR has made the leap to the new spoiler over the hated wing. The new pictures that have come out of the testing sure looks a lot like the old car. While I never had an issue with the wing, I am scratching my head over NASCAR’s reversal of the policy.

Mike Helton now claims the wing was a work in progress over time and that the wing “was put in for all the right reasons.” He also said that the wing was never accepted as they thought it should have been.

Really Mike? Did you misread your fan base that badly or are you talking about the drivers? To the best of my knowledge, the drivers never really had an issue with the wing.

Brian France says that if the spoiler was not going to make the racing better, they would not make this change.

Oh really Brian? Is this the same reason that you created this new car -– because the racing was supposed to be better by reducing the dreaded aero push the older car had in race traffic. Well, that did not happen did it? And the wing was also supposed to make the racing better. So which is it, is the racing supposed to be better with the wing or the spoiler?

OK, OK, I get it. They really have no idea what is going to happen until they race. Select drivers will get to have a fair amount input on the spoiler in tests, but no one really know what is going to happen until they put 43 cars side-by-side on the track, especially a superspeedway.

The yellow line rule at Talladega and Daytona will remain in effect. Not a bad idea in my opinion. I agree with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who said, “The yellow-line rule is there for a reason. If we took it away, I think we'd definitely be reminded quite quickly why we have that rule, and why it's there in the first place.”

Some drivers would run out of talent at that point and the consequences are pretty obvious.

NASCAR has also done away with any bump drafting rules, thank goodness. Putting the racing back in the driver’s hands is the best choice. I have a very good feeling that if a driver is not up to snuff on the intricacies of drafting, the ones who are good will let the others know what is expected. Of course, human error will always come into play and even the best drivers will make a mistake from time to time. But this was a good decision over all in my opinion.

So what do you think, will the return to the spoiler make you a happier fan? Does it really matter to you that the car look more “stock”, even though we all know it really isn’t?

Random thoughts