Change from wing to spoiler on Sprint Cup car likely coming within next month
The wing on Sprint Cup cars will be switched to a spoiler, a move that likely will occur at Martinsville later this month.
// Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Illustrated
Martinsville Speedway seems to be the most likely place NASCAR will introduce a new spoiler to replace the wing on its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car.
NASCAR President Mike Helton said Monday that NASCAR will likely take the wing off the cars “within the next two or three races.”
The spoiler won’t be used this weekend at Atlanta and is not expected to be used March 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR will conduct an open test with the spoiler March 23-24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. There is a test scheduled for March 16 at Talladega Superspeedway, but that test will focus on restrictor-plate tracks.
If NASCAR doesn’t debut the spoiler at Martinsville, then it could use spoilers for the April 10 event at Phoenix. Helton said Tuesday at Texas Motor Speedway media day that he expects the spoiler to be on the cars by the time the series runs there April 18.
“We’re hoping that within the next two or three races that we will be at a point where we say, ‘It’s time to take the wing off,’” Helton said. “By the time we come here in April, we may have a race or two under our belt with the spoiler.”
Teams have been testing the spoiler at tracks that don’t have a NASCAR national touring series race. Richard Childress Racing driver Jeff Burton said last week that each RCR team has been to a track and tested with the spoiler.
“Honestly, without testing on the right race track with the right tire it’s very difficult to learn a whole lot,” Burton said. “Teams that are doing the best job of testing are doing it not at the race track.
“It’s a balance of doing it at the race track and doing it [through simulation] at the shop. To really do it right, it has to be done at the shop and verified at the track.”
NASCAR had announced earlier this year that it would switch to the spoiler and most teams have been expecting the move by Martinsville or Phoenix.
“The short track, I’m not too concerned about the spoiler or wing,” Penske Racing driver Kurt Busch said Tuesday. “It’s more of a matter when you get to Texas when you have that shear aerodynamic challenge. … It’s something that we were anticipating at Penske Racing and we’ve been at the wind tunnel testing and trying to get ahead of the curve.
“What it will do to the race cars is create a looser driving race car – the rear end won’t stick as good on the race track. Maybe it will provide for better racing when cars get into traffic.”
Once the spoiler is on, it is expected to be used on all tracks. The spoiler, depending on the angle, could add or reduce rear downforce, but NASCAR has told the teams it is going to try to keep the downforce similar to what it was with the wing.
The spoiler is expected to create more drag than a wing.
“It’s hard to come to a conclusion [on what will happen] with a 10- or 15-lap run at different race tracks under different circumstances,” Helton said. “Any change we make, any step we take along the way, the proof in the pudding is putting 43 cars on the race track and running a 400- or 500-mile race.
“In most cases, it takes three or four of those. NASCAR originally believed the wing had aerodynamic advantages and would garner significant fan appeal. The fans never embraced the wing. … You also have 43 different personalities out there who like 43 different recipes of how their car should or should not feel.”
When NASCAR introduced its new Cup car for select races in 2007, NASCAR originally believed the wing had aerodynamic advantages and would attract young fans. But fans never embraced the wing instead of the spoiler.
“The benefits of the wing may still exist. The question then becomes, ‘How well accepted is the wing and can you do those benefits with modern technology … if the decision is we’d like to go back to the spoiler?’” Helton said. “Fans tell us that’s more traditional to them. The spoiler on a NASCAR car is more traditional than a wing is.
“If the industry benefits from the fans seeing a more traditional piece and that works for us, can we mechanically do the things that the wing presents as an advantage with a spoiler? During the course of research, we’ve figured out how to do that.”
