NASCAR planning horsepower reduction for 2015

FLRacingFan

FLRacingFan

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NASCAR is planning on making significant engine package changes in 2015 to extend the life of Sprint Cup power plants and reduce horsepower. And along with engine changes, there likely will be aerodynamic and tire changes for the Cup cars in 2015 as well.

That's the word from NASCAR Vice President of Competition and Racing Development Robin Pemberton. In an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com Saturday morning at Auto Club Speedway, Pemberton said the sanctioning body has had four meetings so far with representatives from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota about how to implement those changes. No consensus has been reached yet, according to Pemberton, but discussions are ongoing in advance of making the changes for next year.

Although Pemberton declined to specify how many horsepower NASCAR is looking to cut, sources familiar with the discussions said the reduction would be in the neighborhood of 75 to 100 horsepower. Currently, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series engines make about 860-900 horsepower at most tracks.

Pemberton said the decision to look at reducing engine power is not specifically geared toward trying to improve the quality of racing.

Read the rest here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/sto...ving-toward-horsepower-reduction-in-15-032214
 
I think this might be a good thing, they may not be doing it to improve the racing but I bet it does
 
You know the smaller teams are loving this.

Not sure I like it though. The racing so far this year has been awesome.
 
Greg said:
Dont like.

I like tracks, were you cannot flat foot it thru the corners.
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I hope it doesn't turn into momentum driving like the Nationwide Series has. If it allows them to do something different with the tires and strip some more aero it may be a good thing.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I hope it doesn't turn into momentum driving like the Nationwide Series has. If it allows them to do something different with the tires and strip some more aero it may be a good thing.
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I dont want the late model stock momentum effect either.
 
YAY! If they really want to save money and attract new manufacturers, reduce displacement and go OHC. Why they race 1980's stock is beyond me. Series is turning into a museum piece, and they wonder why they can't attract younger fans.
 
This could be good. How many horse were they running in the early-mid 90s?
 
We went from big blocks, 426/427 to the small block 350 format. Expense and speed were the reasons given. It may be time to go to the 302 small block format.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I hope it doesn't turn into momentum driving like the Nationwide Series has. If it allows them to do something different with the tires and strip some more aero it may be a good thing.
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Nothing wrong with the way the NW cars race in my book
 
Greg said:
Are sure? I think they were heavier something like 3500 to 3600 lbs in prior generations.
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I could be wrong, but I believe the unmodified CoT was the heaviest car ever at 3,600. nascar reduced that 100-150 pounds this year. I'm pretty sure the twisted sister was sub 3,000. The huge weight jump is why Kyle said they sucked, and Kurt cursed nascar for ending his career. It's also why they became so aero dependent with the CoT. There isn't enough rubber on the road to keep the car stuck. nascar gave Goodyear the option to go to a larger tire, but that would be hugely expensive for everyone.
 
FenderBumper said:
I could be wrong, but I believe the unmodified CoT was the heaviest car ever at 3,600. nascar reduced that 100-150 pounds this year. I'm pretty sure the twisted sister was sub 3,000. The huge weight jump is why Kyle said they sucked, and Kurt cursed nascar for ending his career. It's also why they became so aero dependent with the CoT. There isn't enough rubber on the road to keep the car stuck. nascar gave Goodyear the option to go to a larger tire, but that would be hugely expensive for everyone.
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I hated the GEN4 more than the COT and they were very Aero dependent too.
I think Kyke was offended because the COT was more top heavy (he made those comments after winning at Bristol and before the COT was introduced to larger tracks). He also was going to obviously love a twisted tailer made piece more, it was the only cup car he had ever known. But he passed plenty of COTs and had his greatest results in the COT. It probably rewarded his driving skills more than a Gen4 would have.

The twisted sisters were warped pieces, and as a result more cars were required in the stable. They were more tailored for the specifics of each track. I remember one team had something like 16 different cars.

I liked the Gen3 much more, they looked a lot more like Detroit.
 
Greg said:
I hated the GEN4 more than the COT and they were very Aero dependent too.
I think Kyke was offended because the COT was more top heavy (he made those comments after winning at Bristol and before the COT was introduced to larger tracks). He also was going to obviously love a twisted tailer made piece more, it was the only cup car he had ever known. But he passed plenty of COTs and had his greatest results in the COT. It probably rewarded his driving skills more than a Gen4 would have.

The twisted sisters were warped pieces, and as a result more cars were required in the stable. They were more tailored for the specifics of each track. I remember one team had something like 16 different cars.

I liked the Gen3 much more, they looked a lot more like Detroit.
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Jeff Gordon and others took Darby to task on his comments that the CoT would REDUCE aero push. Jeff said he knew it would be far worse, and said it was now like hitting a wall when coming up on other cars.

I wish I could find car weights for each gen, along with minimum weight with the driver. I can't find anything at all.
 
I do recall something about nascar reducing the minimum driver weight from 200 lbs to around 180. Was that part of gen 6?
 
FenderBumper said:
Jeff Gordon and others took Darby to task on his comments that the CoT would REDUCE aero push. Jeff said he knew it would be far worse, and said it was now like hitting a wall when coming up on other cars.

I wish I could find car weights for each gen, along with minimum weight with the driver. I can't find anything at all.
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Jeff not up front equal not happy. He was dominate in the 90s lot less time in dirty air.
 
Greg said:
Jeff not up front equal not happy. He was dominate in the 90s lot less time in dirty air.
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To be fair most any driver used to being up front will complain about the car (generation or current rules) when he becomes less dominant.

I liked Dale Sr and he did it too.
 
I like it . The alternative will be to introduce restrictor plates at mid sized tracks .
 
Greg said:
To be fair most any driver used to being up front will complain about the car (generation or current rules) when he becomes less dominant.

I liked Dale Sr and he did it too.
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But there is some truth to it. If the CoT needs a bigger spoiler and a splitter, side skirts and down force from the side shoulders to go fast, it has to slow down when that air is disturbed when he catches the leading car, which is slower but has clean air. I'm tired of races being decided by something we can't even see.

Less aero dependency means less clean air advantage, and races will be decided on speed and driving line, not by how much you can disturb the air hitting the car that just caught up to you while he still had clean air. Then he stalls out and falls back and tries to get another run. If drivers weren't such wussies about using the bumper, most of the aero problems would be solved.
 
I think the minimum weight was 3300 at that time. As my systems continue to fail, I am occasionally wrong.

Edit - I was wrong. It was 3,500 and reduced to 3,400 for the 1995 season. When Ernie Irvan slugged the wall at Michigan in 1994 the sanctioning body got nervous and changed a few things.
 
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