NASCAR seeks to find some answers in the wind tunnel Friday. Officials will take what is learned there and apply it to a three-car test Dec. 10 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval. That precedes an organizational test there for all Cup teams Dec. 15 and 17.
The car’s handling, particularly in traffic during two tests days at Charlotte last month, raised concerns — even more than the slower speeds.
Joey Logano will be among those taking part in the three-car test next week.
“I think right now we just need to figure out how do we get cars as close as possible and race as good as we can,” he said Thursday before the NASCAR Awards program. “There’s a lot of pieces to this new car that will allow that.”
The design of the new car, though, has changed where the aerodynamic “dirty air” affects a trailing car.
“If you could imagine a boat where the wake would get wide but to the right,” Logano said of the previous car. “So, if you’re three car lengths back, and you move to the right, you’re done. You’d rather go to the left or stay right behind the car. It was worse if you went to the right.
“Now (with the Next Gen car), if you go to the right, it’s cleaner air. … Almost like the (leading) car isn’t even there. That part is a huge gain. It’s getting that when you’re actually behind a car better. That wake is bigger right now.
“You can imagine all the air is funneling right behind (the leading car) instead of being dispersed all the way across it. That part is where I think we can make some adjustments to make it better, but I think there’s definitely some great signs of hope to fix ‘dirty air’ on ovals.
NASCAR is examining ways to help make the Next Gen car handle better in traffic.
nascar.nbcsports.com