May 8, 2012
By Doug Demmons
Tandem racing is not going to go away easily.
Even with the changes NASCAR made to the rear spoiler and the restrictor plate and, most significantly, the settings on the cooling systems, tandem racing is still the fastest way around Talladega.
Even with water temperatures soaring to 240, 260, 280 degrees drivers still paired up every chance they could.
NASCAR has conducted two races so far with this new rules package and the results have ben mixed. At Daytona in February, with temperatures mostly mild, it worked rather well. Tandem drafting was limited moistly to the end of the race.
Talladega was another story entirely. Temperatures soared close to 90 degrees but the rules package was identical to the one used at Daytona. And with the rain that fell Sunday morning it must have been like driving through a sauna.
The engines couldn’t handle it, not even in the big drafting packs. Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and others had to drop to the back of the field to cool their engines.
Other cars suffered mysterious engine maladies -- Regan Smith, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson.
The majority of the problems seem to come from Chevys. But considering how many cars each week are Chevys, that’s no small problem.
Gordon used the word “joke” to describe the situation and said NASCAR needs to fix it -- especially before the July race in Daytona, which won’t be any cooler than Talladega. And he’s correct.
A sport that is so conscious about trying to save teams from spending extra money doesn’t need to be promoting engine failure.
But if NASCAR relents on the cooling system it will just encourage even more tandem racing, which the fans clearly don’t like. It’s a quandry.
The answer could come next year when the newly redesigned Chevys, Fords, Camrys and, hopefully, Dodges are on the track and we will see just how well the front bumper of a Ford lines up with the rear bumper of a Chevy.
The problem could take care of itself without resorting to pushing engines to the brink. Or the new designs could create a whole new set of tandem issues.
But that’s next year. This year, NASCAR needs to scale back on its cooling system clampdown.
Either that or buy a lot more Speedi-Dri.
Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at ALABAMA MOTORSPORTS
Follow Doug on Twitter: @dougdemmons
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Doug Demmons at ....
