‘Boys, have at it’: NASCAR wants more contact on the track, allows bump-drafting at Daytona, Talladega
Robin Pemberton speaks with reporters during the Charlotte Motor Speedway media tour Thursday. // Sam Cranston, NASCAR Illustrated
“Rubbin’, son, is racin’.” That famous line from the movie “Days of Thunder” has become a mantra for stock-car racing, and it is now NASCAR’s theme for the 2010 season.
NASCAR officials declared Thursday that the gloves are off for 2010, giving drivers free reign to bump and bang and run into each other as much as they like without fear of being penalized.
“We will put it back in the hands of the drivers and we will say, ‘Boys, have at it, and have a good time,’” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said.
NASCAR will no longer regulate bump-drafting at Daytona and Talladega, allowing drivers to use their bumper as often as they like – and anywhere on the track – at the high-speed, restrictor-plate tracks.
It is also encouraging them to mix it up more at every track, perhaps drawing out some of the raw emotion fans believe is currently missing from the sport.
“This is a contact sport. We want to see drivers mixing it up,” NASCAR Chairman Brian France said. “We want to see the emotion of the world's best drivers just as much as everybody else does, and that is the goal for 2010 and beyond.”
“There's an age‑old saying that in NASCAR, if you ain't rubbing, you ain't racing,” NASCAR President Mike Helton added. “And I think that's what the NASCAR fan and NASCAR stakeholders all bought into, and all expect.”
NASCAR has attempted to be more lenient on aggressive driving in recent years, but seems to be taking a much bigger step in that direction.
Driver Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski had a run-in in the final Nationwide Series race of the season last year, with Hamlin admitting he fulfilled a promise by wrecking Keselowski intentionally.
Both drivers were penalized during the race, however, as was Juan Pablo Montoya for an incident with Tony Stewart the following day in the Sprint Cup race at Homestead.
Helton said NASCAR officials were more lenient on the drivers then than they have been in the past and indicated they will lighten up even more this season.
The leniency is part of its effort to encourage drivers to be more aggressive and to show more emotion and personality.
“We started that process already of lightening up, and we continue to look for ways to continue to do that,” Helton said. “It doesn't mean that you get a free pass out of jail card or anything from some of the characters we have got in the sport, but it certainly means we are encouraging the competitors … [to let] their character and their personality, within reason, to be unfolded. … Certainly we are encouraging the characters of the sport, the athletes and the crew members for their personalities to be a big part of the sport.”
Helton said NASCAR officials will still react when they believe a driver crosses the line or goes too far, particularly if it jeopardized competitor or fan safety. But he expects fewer drivers to be summoned to the NASCAR hauler for their actions on the track.
“What happens on the race track, particularly in Daytona, … we put that back in the hands of the drivers,” Helton said. “And they choose what they can and cannot do out on the race track.
“Now, our role is to deliver that correctly, and it also comes with the responsibility of maintaining law and order.”
NASCAR’s first step toward allowing and encouraging more contact will come at Daytona, where there will be no rule regulating bump-drafting.
NASCAR officials warned drivers against bump-drafting at Talladega in October and threatened to penalize them for using their bumpers in the turns. Many drivers reacted negatively to the rule, saying that it led to multicar wrecks, one in which Ryan Newman’s car flipped and rolled.
“Right now, we’re saying, ‘Alright, if what we did at Talladega left you with the impression we left you with, then how about we give it back to you and you all decide how you handle that on the race track and we’ll worry about something else,” Helton said.
Pemberton said drivers will have to figure out for themselves how far they can push the new rules at Daytona and their newfound freedom.
“We’ve done our part. We’ve backed away from a lot of the regulations and reprimanding,” he said. “Frankly, it is the drivers' hands on the race track now.
“They know what they can and can’t do, they know the limits of the cars and the limits of their talents. It’s about letting the drivers drive and let them do the best racing that they can.”
