NASCAR To Test 2015 Rule Proposals

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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NASCAR has scheduled a test next month at Michigan International Speedway to test possible rule changes for the 2015 season.

The test is scheduled to be held Aug. 18, the day after the Sprint Cup race there.

"We’re very pleased with the competition on the track so far in 2014,’’ said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR vice president of innovation and racing development, in a statement to Motor Racing Network. “The evolution of the racing product continues as we look to 2015 and beyond.

Can read more here.
 
Spacers on the throttle bodies to get the HP reduction they were talking about?
 
KevinWI said:
Spacers on the throttle bodies to get the HP reduction they were talking about?
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Doesnt say...just says their "rules package" I would assume that the HP reduction will be a big part of the test
 
KevinWI said:
Spacers on the throttle bodies to get the HP reduction they were talking about?
Click to expand...

If they are going to reduce HP, that would be the only option at this stage in the game I would think. Too late for a displacement reduction/redesign?
 
who knows, the article is pretty worthless except it says they are testing at Michigan next month.o_O
 
Revman said:
If they are going to reduce HP, that would be the only option at this stage in the game I would think. Too late for a displacement reduction/redesign?
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Yeah. If they were going to go to a smaller engine/OHC/V6/any of the above, we would probably know about it by now. Back around the All-Star Race when the news about the HP reduction first broke, they asked Doug Yates who said NASCAR would probably do it through gear ratios and lower RPMs or restrict the airflow via spacers like they did in Trucks and Nationwide. Then like a week later Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick let slip "accidentally" that Ford was testing at Michigan with Trevor Bayne in a Cup car that had a full blown restrictor plate on it. The assumption being Ford knows which way NASCAR is going to go. I'm sure Ford appreciated the two Chevy drivers leaking what they were testing. They didn't say what Chevrolet was testing for next year, but let me tell you about what the other guy is doing. :D

They could do it electronically with the ECU but NASCAR seems to want to be pretty conservative with the ECU and avoid tricks. They've used a restrictor plate successfully (well, I'm not a fan of plate racing but NASCAR trusts the plate) for 26 something years, so my bet would be spacers like they did in Trucks and Nationwide. I would try the spacers just on the 1.5 mile tracks, Pocono, Michigan, Fontana and Indianapolis. Let them run straight open at Loudon, Dover, the short tracks and road courses.The crew chiefs and engine builders would hate that but let them keep guessing. :)
 
KevinWI said:
Yeah. If they were going to go to a smaller engine/OHC/V6/any of the above, we would probably know about it by now. Back around the All-Star Race when the news about the HP reduction first broke, they asked Doug Yates who said NASCAR would probably do it through gear ratios and lower RPMs or restrict the airflow via spacers like they did in Trucks and Nationwide. Then like a week later Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick let slip "accidentally" that Ford was testing at Michigan with Trevor Bayne in a Cup car that had a full blown restrictor plate on it. The assumption being Ford knows which way NASCAR is going to go. I'm sure Ford appreciated the two Chevy drivers leaking what they were testing. They didn't say what Chevrolet was testing for next year, but let me tell you about what the other guy is doing. :D

They could do it electronically with the ECU but NASCAR seems to want to be pretty conservative with the ECU and avoid tricks. They've used a restrictor plate successfully (well, I'm not a fan of plate racing but NASCAR trusts the plate) for 26 something years, so my bet would be spacers like they did in Trucks and Nationwide. I would try the spacers just on the 1.5 mile tracks, Pocono, Michigan, Fontana and Indianapolis. Let them run straight open at Loudon, Dover, the short tracks and road courses.The crew chiefs and engine builders would hate that but let them keep guessing. :)
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Feeling like they are going spacers even though I was looking forward to a new engine--Toyota has the oldest design in the field. Regardless, it's going to change the racing. Those who hate the on throttle off throttle jockeying (i.e. Kyle Busch) will benefit. It does give me a little of what I was looking for in terms of recreating horsepower wars. Those who hate the idea of slowing the cars/power reductions are overlooking how cool it will be to see who gets back what is lost the quickest. I think the builders have been looking for fractions of hp for far too long. Gonna be fun.
 
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dpkimmel2001 said:
NASCAR has scheduled a test next month at Michigan International Speedway to test possible rule changes for the 2015 season.

The test is scheduled to be held Aug. 18, the day after the Sprint Cup race there.

"We’re very pleased with the competition on the track so far in 2014,’’ said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR vice president of innovation and racing development, in a statement to Motor Racing Network. “The evolution of the racing product continues as we look to 2015 and beyond.

Can read more here.
Click to expand...

not much meat on tha bone w/ that press release / article.
 
I don't get it. What is the point of lowering the horsepower? Better fuel mileage? I'm pretty sure it won't improve racing and passing. The racing has been amazing this year with the current rules.
 
Revman said:
Feeling like they are going spacers even though I was looking forward to a new engine--Toyota has the oldest design in the field. Regardless, it's going to change the racing. Those who hate the on throttle off throttle jockeying (i.e. Kyle Busch) will benefit. It does give me a little of what I was looking for in terms of recreating horsepower wars. Those who hate the idea of slowing the cars/power reductions are overlooking how cool it will be to see who gets back what is lost the quickest. I think the builders have been looking for fractions of hp for far too long. Gonna be fun.
Click to expand...
I hate to see the change, and I think it is huge mistake.
Some tracks will become full throttle, and as a consequence will remove one of the driver inputs.

This BS change that is free for Brian, isnt free to the teams. It is a just another band aid or steroid to juice up the cloned cookie cutters.
 
Doug Yates was just on NASCAR Radio, and in a nutshell, here's what I'm thinking based on what he said.....3-4 years with spacer and gears, year 5 reduced displacement V-8's. Wondering if there is disagreement over V-6 and V-8's. They will go V-8. Want to stress that I am summarizing and hypothesizing big time based on what he said. I really like Yates. Doug really balked at the proposition of a two race rule per engine. Didn't like that at all.
 
Greg said:
I hate to see the change, and I think it is huge mistake.
Some tracks will become full throttle, and as a consequence will remove one of the driver inputs.

This BS change that is free for Brian, isnt free to the teams. It is a just another band aid or steroid to juice up the cloned cookie cutters.
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Think Nationwide. Yup, it will cost a lot of money per Doug Yates.
 
Marcingak said:
I don't get it. What is the point of lowering the horsepower? Better fuel mileage? I'm pretty sure it won't improve racing and passing. The racing has been amazing this year with the current rules.
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I don't think it will change the racing honestly, but I'm not a racer. I like the idea of the builders hitting reset a bit, and getting after it. I love the technical side of this sport. The new ride height stuff has been awesome even though my teams have been getting their asses kicked. Even so, I love the little leaks here and there about getting caught up. It is all very fascinating IMO. I mean, holy crap, all of these teams have incredibly bright engineers, but Penske's nail it.....and the consistency of the Hendrick organization.....and the tenacity of TRD. This is so damn fun.
 
Marcingak said:
I don't get it. What is the point of lowering the horsepower? Better fuel mileage? I'm pretty sure it won't improve racing and passing. The racing has been amazing this year with the current rules.
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The PR stated reasoning is to reduce costs. But it most likely won't, and it will reduce the amount of skill required from drivers.
 
Greg said:
I hate to see the change, and I think it is huge mistake.
Some tracks will become full throttle, and as a consequence will remove one of the driver inputs.

This BS change that is free for Brian, isnt free to the teams. It is a just another band aid or steroid to juice up the cloned cookie cutters.
Click to expand...
"Why go to smaller tracks when we can slap a spacer on the cars?"
 
FLRacingFan said:
The PR stated reasoning is to reduce costs. But it most likely won't, and it will reduce the amount of skill required from drivers.
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There's no way it will reduce costs to the teams at all. If they simply reduce the airflow to the current engines then they will have to pay for the additional cost of installing a restrictor. If they have to design a new engine then that will take millions and millions of dollars to research and build. The only one this will benefit is Sunoco because they provide fuel to all the teams for free so they will save money if the cars are more fuel efficient. NASCAR doesn't give a crap about the teams. They only care about themselves and their official partners/sponsors. When NASCAR talks about reducing costs it means costs for themselves, not the teams.

Not to mention all the testing of these new rules packages will be very costly for the teams.
 
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NASCAR has a great racing product right now. They should just leave it alone when it comes to the racecars. The only thing that needs to be changed is the Chase format.
 
Marcingak said:
There's no way it will reduce costs to the teams at all. If they simply reduce the airflow to the current engines then they will have to pay for the additional cost of installing a restrictor. If they have to design a new engine then that will take millions and millions of dollars to research and build. The only one this will benefit is Sunoco because they provide fuel to all the teams for free so they will save money if the cars are more fuel efficient. NASCAR doesn't give a crap about the teams. They only care about themselves and their official partners/sponsors. When NASCAR talks about reducing costs it means costs for themselves, not the teams.

Not to mention all the testing of these new rules packages will be very costly for the teams.
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There might be long-term savings after the initial costs to do R&D on new parts and pieces, testing, etc. They want the engines to eventually be able to last two Cup races. But with NASCAR, I don't really know if there is such as a thing as long term.
 
KevinWI said:
Yeah. If they were going to go to a smaller engine/OHC/V6/any of the above, we would probably know about it by now. Back around the All-Star Race when the news about the HP reduction first broke, they asked Doug Yates who said NASCAR would probably do it through gear ratios and lower RPMs or restrict the airflow via spacers like they did in Trucks and Nationwide. Then like a week later Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick let slip "accidentally" that Ford was testing at Michigan with Trevor Bayne in a Cup car that had a full blown restrictor plate on it. The assumption being Ford knows which way NASCAR is going to go. I'm sure Ford appreciated the two Chevy drivers leaking what they were testing. They didn't say what Chevrolet was testing for next year, but let me tell you about what the other guy is doing. :D

They could do it electronically with the ECU but NASCAR seems to want to be pretty conservative with the ECU and avoid tricks. They've used a restrictor plate successfully (well, I'm not a fan of plate racing but NASCAR trusts the plate) for 26 something years, so my bet would be spacers like they did in Trucks and Nationwide. I would try the spacers just on the 1.5 mile tracks, Pocono, Michigan, Fontana and Indianapolis. Let them run straight open at Loudon, Dover, the short tracks and road courses.The crew chiefs and engine builders would hate that but let them keep guessing. :)
Click to expand...

If they decide go to a V-6 engine, I will be done with Nascar, period. To me the raw horsepower sound of the V-8 is a big part of why I watch and go to the races.

I have not watched or cared about an Indy Car race since CART, I also have stopped watching F1 this season for the same reason, they sound like sh*t!
 
sdj said:
If they decide go to a V-6 engine, I will be done with Nascar, period. To me the raw horsepower sound of the V-8 is a big part of why I watch and go to the races.
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So you didn't watch the Busch Series for years?
 
sdj said:
If they decide go to a V-6 engine, I will be done with Nascar, period. To me the raw horsepower sound of the V-8 is a big part of why I watch and go to the races.

I have not watched or cared about an Indy Car race since CART, I also have stopped watching F1 this season for the same reason, they sound like sh*t!
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I'd stay around, but I am absolutely not a proponent of the 6. Love the 8. Love it! Will never forget when I was fortunate enough to have a Hot Pass, and arrived at the track early on a Friday in Fontana. Just then, they fired Jamie Mac's #1 McDonald's car. Absolutely ruined the drawers on that one. Incredible.
 
FLRacingFan said:
There might be long-term savings after the initial costs to do R&D on new parts and pieces, testing, etc. They want the engines to eventually be able to last two Cup races. But with NASCAR, I don't really know if there is such as a thing as long term.
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Doug Yates says absolutely not. Will cost more money--not save.
 
they spent gizzilions on restrictor plate engines, trying to squeeze everything out of them, Ford made a new engine that cooled better so they could tape up the grill more, there isn't going to be any savings, just change and more money spent learning more ways to squeeze more power out of them. a monkey knows that, why doesn't Nascar.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Initially, it will absolutely cost more. Hard to say if they can make them last twice as long like they want, though.
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If they needed to go 2 races, they would, but it would take one hell of a lot of R&D to get there. $$$$$ By that time, we are into the lower displacement era IMO.
 
FenderBumper said:
Tapered spacer, like NW?
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yeah Jack Roush let the cat out of the bag months ago, said they were "probably" going to restrict the intake side if they did anything. they want to use a plate or a spacer instead of programming the injection in order to keep from running too lean a mixture and frying the engine. bunch of B.S., teams will have to completely change out every moving part to gain an advantage. Less horsepower and torque and you can make everything lighter $$$$
 
Big mistake if they scrap the V-8's for V-6's. Nothing like being there in person and hearing those V-8's crank up coming to the green.
 
ToyYoda said:
Big mistake if they scrap the V-8's for V-6's. Nothing like being there in person and hearing those V-8's crank up coming to the green.
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Well, here's the deal IMO. They can pitch that bull**** that we can't tell if a car is going 180 v. 195. I'm not totally with that, but okay. I mean I heard people ooooing and awiiiiing over the corner speed trap in Fontana, but whatever. What we absolutely can detect is what we hear so I am right with ya ToyYoda. The problem is that the motivation to the 6 could be about running cars more similar to what we have on the street. We have to drop this. The cars on the track and not what we driver, and they never will be. The cars on the track are a manufacturer's expression of what they can do. That's the connection. Think F1 and IndyCar. When we let go of that true street to track connection, the 6 becomes meaningless.
 
sdj said:
You are correct, that is why I did not watch the Busch series when they ran V-6 engines, sounds like a tumble bug in a tar bucket!
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Seems like a strange reason not to watch...I preferred the sound of the V10 engines in F1 but the racing with them sucked.
 
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