NASCAR planning horsepower reduction for 2015

FLRacingFan said:
GRIMES, IA. – NASCAR is close to revealing an engine package for the 2015 season that CEO Brian France hopes will increase lead changes, particularly on 1.5-mile superspeedways.

And senior vice president of racing operations Steve O'Donnell said Thursday at an Iowa Speedway Sponsor Summit that a final racing package might not be limited to a reduction of horsepower in engines.

"The whole package," O'Donnell said, affirming France's proclamation a few weeks ago that NASCAR would make "significant" changes as it enters a new TV contract with NBC. "Engines, downforce, aero and tires."

O'Donnell said in an interview with the Des Moines Register that NASCAR met with teams this past week as its Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., to inform them of "the direction we're heading," and that stock-car racing's sanctioning body was in the "tweaking" stage of the 2015 engine package.

O'Donnell said he was hopeful for a formal announcement on engines prior to the May 17 Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, although there's still much to be worked out with the R&D folks before that can happen.

Racing at 1.5-mile tracks can be starved for up-front excitement at times, with a leader pulling away on a restart and often encountering little obstacle in extending his gap on the pack. That's an area NASCAR wanted to examine early in the 2014 season, with an eye on improvements for 2015.

After viewing a small sample this season (at Las Vegas and Texas), O'Donnell termed 1.5-mile racing "better" but said, "We've still got work to do. Brian's talked about (wanting) more and more lead changes. That's the end goal."

To reach that goal, it appears NASCAR is taking a multi-pronged approach, not only in reducing engine power (currently at 850 horsepower in the premier Sprint Cup Series) but in its Goodyear tires.

"If you watched last year … 50 laps into a run, 10 laps to go, nobody pits for tires," O'Donnell said. "And if one guy did, it didn't matter. You think, 'Wait a minute, that's not right.' So tires are a big part of this as well in getting that all right."

There is no timetable for when the final package will be released to teams. However, O'Donnell provided a window Thursday into discussions that have taken place about how to further enhance the racing product.

"If you combine the aero package with that (reduction of) horsepower (and) allow some aero changes with the engines going into the corner, drivers have to get off the gas and they're able to maneuver around a little bit more," O'Donnell said. "Combine that with Goodyear and a little softer tire, now you've got the full package."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...s-about-engine-changes-in-sprint-cup/8103073/
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Just get rid of so many cloned 1.5 quad ovals. One of Brians lackeys is in Iowa, with one of the solutions under his nose.

The tracks that got replaced put on better races and used up the tires naturally.

Stupidity is just patching on more band-aids, and will punish the dissenters with fines.

Brian is an imbecile and the sorryist steward nascar has ever known.
 
Sounds like they're defiantly pushing to make this happen for the 2015 season.

I applaud NASCAR for attempting to make changes like this, I hope it works out for the best.
 
Harvick..... Count him out as a fan of this change.

@jeff_gluck

Kevin Harvick says if NASCAR reduces engine HP, "good luck w/that" bc R&D costs will go up could be tire problems due to higher corner speed.
 
What do you all think they will do....Go all the way with the 5.0 or throttle body/ECU tweaking?
 
Greg said:
Just get rid of so many cloned 1.5 quad ovals. One of Brians lackeys is in Iowa, with one of the solutions under his nose.

The tracks that got replaced put on better races and used up the tires naturally.

Stupidity is just patching on more band-aids, and will punish the dissenters with fines.
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That's what I'm thinking too. I figure some venue changes would better improve the product than developing a new car every year. O'Donnell is right to say the 1.5s are "better" this year, but in general they'll never be as good as certain tracks left out in the cold right now.

Talking about reducing downforce and bringing in new tires is good, but I'm not sold on reducing power. It sounds like the drivers and teams aren't either.
 
Revman said:
What do you all think they will do....Go all the way with the 5.0 or throttle body/ECU tweaking?
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I would do it electronically, leaving the possibility open for push-to-pass later.

I know, I know, stock car fans hate push-to-pass, it's video game crap, it's not racing, whatever, we know all your hyperbolic comments. But in open-wheel racing, the push-to-pass option has made the racing more competitive. When I see the "rate the race" threads here and 99% of the threads for the Charlotte-ized 1.5 tri-ovals are complaints about "no passing, no passing", I can't help but think a push-to-pass solution would help.

Now proceed to try to hurt my feelings with lame circa 1998 complaints about Formula One.
 
KevinWI said:
I would do it electronically, leaving the possibility open for push-to-pass later..
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Push to pass!

Did+that+really+need+to+be+a+gif+_ff0bace491d925c7e9b5a5d2e2ccffaa.gif
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Push to pass!

View attachment 13170
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Because having the technological equivalent of 1960 hot rods with pushrod V8s and four-speed transmissions has created exciting racing? When I can go into almost any "rate the race" thread and find 15 posts about people complaining about how "boring" the racing was?

I will give you credit, dp, you don't complain about the racing weekly, so I will give you license to reject new ideas. :)
 
KevinWI said:
Because having the technological equivalent of 1960 hot rods with pushrod V8s and four-speed transmissions has created exciting racing? When I can go into almost any "rate the race" thread and find 15 posts about people complaining about how "boring" the racing was?

I will give you credit, dp, you don't complain about the racing weekly, so I will give you license to reject new ideas. :)
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I've enjoyed the racing. I don't bother rating the race unless I've been there. TV doesn't do this sport justice. Never has. Never will.

Push to pass sounds like a video game idea. I know that they've used it and possibly still do in IRL. I'm just not excited about the idea.

Thanks for reminding me about my license to reject. Mine was about to expire. Time to pay my dues. ;)
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Push to pass sounds like a video game idea. I know that they've used it and possibly still do in IRL. I'm just not excited about the idea.
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Yes, they still use it in IndyCar and used it until last year in F1 (believe its kind of been integrated into the whole engine now in F1 with their new light eco-friendly engines).

When the cars are so aero dependent and the car in front is so hard to pass (sound familiar?), it's a solution to create passing. It works. I think it's more akin to "real racing" than something like a restrictor plate/throttle body solution to slow everybody down.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I've enjoyed the racing. I don't bother rating the race unless I've been there. TV doesn't do this sport justice. Never has. Never will.

Push to pass sounds like a video game idea. I know that they've used it and possibly still do in IRL. I'm just not excited about the idea.

Thanks for reminding me about my license to reject. Mine was about to expire. Time to pay my dues. ;)
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:XXROFL: ZING.
 
KevinWI said:
Yes, they still use it in IndyCar and used it until last year in F1 (believe its kind of been integrated into the whole engine now in F1 with their new light eco-friendly engines).

When the cars are so aero dependent and the car in front is so hard to pass (sound familiar?), it's a solution to create passing. It works. I think it's more akin to "real racing" than something like a restrictor plate/throttle body solution to slow everybody down.
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I'm still partial to push the accelerator to pass. Bring that back. Not liking the buttons. :cool:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I'm still partial to push the accelerator to pass. Bring that back. Not liking the buttons. :cool:
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But but but, If I'm not mistaken, except for Pocono and the road courses, all the NASCAR drivers leave the car in 4th gear the whole time.

If they had a transmission with more gears, then they could have two high gears like IndyCar. One for cruisin' and one for passin'.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I've enjoyed the racing. I don't bother rating the race unless I've been there. TV doesn't do this sport justice. Never has. Never will.

Push to pass sounds like a video game idea. I know that they've used it and possibly still do in IRL. I'm just not excited about the idea.

Thanks for reminding me about my license to reject. Mine was about to expire. Time to pay my dues. ;)
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Whew, sure glad they continue to race when you aren't there.:)
 
As an IndyCar fan, push to pass is extremely overrated.

I do like the idea of making the tires fall off more so we're not flat out for half the season because we took horsepower away. With the CoT, the drivers were flat out for 90% of a lap at all the tri-ovals and quad ovals because they were so bulky. The trucks never get off the gas at Kansas.

Robin Miller always says that the key to good racing is jacking up the horsepower as much as possible and taking away as much downforce as possible. I buy that.
 
Take the control out of the car, put it in more into the driver's hands, then you'll have better racing. The cars don't even go that fast, I think lowering the horsepower may help with the areo but at what cost? I admire taking a risk but if it backfires, we could have worse racing next year.
 
Here's a thought why not leave things the way they are for another season, racing seems to be pretty damned good this year so far, so why mess it up?
 
Kyle18fan said:
Screwing up race cars seems to be a trend these days, F-1 screwed theirs up and now they are planning to make the cars throw showers of sparks in the corners to improve the visual effect, that and vapor trails LOL
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thats lame
 
Kyle18fan said:
Screwing up race cars seems to be a trend these days, F-1 screwed theirs up and now they are planning to make the cars throw showers of sparks in the corners to improve the visual effect, that and vapor trails LOL
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LOL You forgot glowing brake discs.
 
FLRacingFan said:
LOL You forgot glowing brake discs.
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LMAO !! Shame on me, I did forget them glowing brake rotors. I wasnt even shocked when I read that article, nothing surprises me with that series any more.
Sad thing is Nascar could end up going the same direction. I have no issue with reducing the power in the cup series but when the start changing stuff they dont know when to quit
 
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