January 3, 2003

It’s nearly time to get geared up for the 45th running of the Daytona 500.

If history is an indicator politics will play out this year in the red trailer of NASCAR officials just as it has in the past.

Oh sure, we have the new body location rule in effect this season. A brief recap reminds us that all cars will offer a measurement of 60 inches from the center line of the rear end extending to the forward most portion of the roofline.

The 2003 Monte Carlo will show up with its new look at Daytona after logging several good test sessions. The A+ rating in the test notes already set the tone for politics at Daytona.

In 2002 we saw the typical sand bagging that takes place during testing at Daytona. The Ford teams knew they needed an adjustment and went a little over board with speeds that made you wonder what the heck they did all winter. The placement of restrictor plates with smaller openings is the usual manner in which the sandbagging takes shape.

I am not sure how many more 'follow the leader' races the fans can handle where the thrill of the day is watching the blocking technique. You have to block now because cars don’t have decent throttle response. Throttle response seems to be the one thing that NASCAR just won’t allow because it considers the restrictor plate as a mitigating point.

It is believed that even though NASCAR calls the cars equal the Monte may out-perform the Taurus in the spring. There were strategists last season that believed NASCAR should have laid the spoiler down at a lower overall angle as compared to the half-inch in height reduction which came in two adjustments for Ford teams.

The new body location rule will make things even tougher in the spring because no one really has a handle on this latest in mandates from the sanctioning body. Last year the teams had an option of moving the body of the car forward nearly seven inches which allowed for great front down force. This year that is just not an option. There are remaining tricks that teams will use but nothing like last season.

Twisting of the body in an effort to hide a portion of the rear spoiler becomes tougher this season. NASCAR increased the number of templates to 32 which is up from the 30 machined templates of 2002. Also noted is the fact that 18 of the 32 templates will be considered common.

I am not sure how many more 'follow the leader' races the fans can handle where the thrill of the day is watching the blocking technique. You have to block now because cars don’t have decent throttle response. Throttle response seems to be the one thing that NASCAR just won’t allow because it considers the restrictor plate as a mitigating point.

The best place to be in the race will be out front because the considered closing rate of these cars suffer. Its all about safety now and actual racing takes a back seat to safety these days. And don’t forget about the latest in math concerns and that is the utilization of the smaller fuel cell.

The bottom line is that if you can’t pull out and make passes, draft up on the leader what good is any of it?

It becomes a parade with a lot of media buildup. If the only reason to have superspeedways is the idea of packing thousands of fans into the stands with no real racing, why bother? It seems to me that if the sanctioning body can’t get the cars to respond with a foot on the floor at these mega-tracks we might as well shut them down and hold drive-in movie events where they show racing like it was meant to be.

There have been many in this business come forth with similar ideas of raising fences around Daytona and Talladega, taking out the first ten rows of seats and let these cars run as intended. If the drivers don’t want to run as intended send them home and lets get some guys that will. Indy cars run at these speeds and these cars can do the same.

If NASCAR wants to spend money wisely, perhaps they can employ some folks other than former racing cheat Gary Nelson and get down to the idea of finding answers other than holding these cars back to the point of them looking foolish on a superspeedway.

No matter what the rules may be for 2003, there is something about Daletona in the spring. I love the smell of Union 76 racing fuel in the morning and the faint wisp of a Goodyear Racing Eagle being scuffed. Love is in the air with the site of new cars that glisten in the Florida sun after a brief rain shower. Let there be racin!

You can contact Joe at: Insider Racing News