NASCAR isn’t done tinkering with its superspeedway package.After making a significant aerodynamic change at Daytona in August, officials are going a step further for the Oct. 25 YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.The rear spoiler will shrink from four inches to 3.5 inches, NASCAR announced Thursday. The rest of the package introduced at Daytona, including the reduction to 465 horsepower, will remain in place.It’s another swing at something NASCAR has been trying to fix for several seasons: giving drivers enough maneuverability to make moves in the pack while cutting down on the fuel-saving stretches that have too often dictated superspeedway races.And NASCAR isn’t relying on the spoiler change alone.NASCAR liked what it saw at DaytonaThe move builds directly on NASCAR’s experiment at Daytona, where officials made the dramatic decision to cut the spoiler from seven inches to four.The idea was straightforward. Less drag should give drivers a better chance to build runs, pull out of line and actually go somewhere.There were encouraging signs.“It seemed like it was a win at Daytona,” 2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray said on NASCAR Inside the Race. “All the drivers thought they could build a bigger run at Daytona than they had in the past.”Now NASCAR is taking another half-inch away.“I applaud NASCAR for taking a little bit more off, taking that next step,” McMurray said.Talladega should provide an especially interesting test. Its wider racing surface gives drivers more room to work with once a run develops, and McMurray believes that could make the new package even more effective.“The other thing to consider is that Talladega is about eight feet wider than Daytona, so this gives you a little more options if you can generate a run to be able to make a pass,” he said.NASCAR is also taking aim at fuel savingThe spoiler isn’t the only change.NASCAR has revised Talladega’s stage lengths from the originally scheduled 60-120-188 format. Stage 1 will now end at Lap 98, Stage 2 at Lap 143 and the race at Lap 188, matching the setup used at Talladega in the spring.That leaves two 45-lap sprints to close the race.The intent is to make fuel conservation less attractive and actual racing more important. And with Talladega serving as the eighth of 10 Chase races, there is another wrinkle this time around: stage points matter in the championship fight.“We haven’t had stage points in a Chase format, and as we’ve seen this year, the stage points make a huge difference,” McMurray said.That’s what makes Talladega such an intriguing test.NASCAR has reduced drag again. It has shortened the final two stages. Both changes are designed to push drivers toward racing rather than riding.Of course, NASCAR teams have made a living finding advantages nobody else anticipated.“I’m sure that the teams will find a loophole in this somewhere,” McMurray said.At Talladega, we’ll find out quickly.
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