NASCAR officials were uncomfortable with speeds in the first of two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, ahead of Sunday's Geico 500. As a result, changes were made with the aim of decreasing speeds in final practice, but insteads, speeds increased.
After 21 cars surpassed the 200 mph mark, led by Kurt Busch’s 47.249-second/202.671 mph lap, in the opening practice session, NASCAR officials distributed pieces of metal to race teams for the addition of one-inch wicker strips to rear spoilers. The sanctioning body also gave teams a choice in gears, 0.345 or 0.350, with the stipulation that the same gear be used in the race as in qualifying.
“Our competition leaders consulted with the teams following opening practice, and there were some concerns with engines and we also saw speeds creeping up. After analyzing the data, we landed on these changes for final practice,” a statement from a NASCAR spokesperson said.
In second practice, 24 cars surpassed the 200 mph mark, led by Ryan Newman’s 46.905-second/204.157 mph lap. The driver was concerned about the speeds.
"That’s when cars get airborne,” Newman told NBC Sports. "They raised the back of the cars up an inch, and it just packs more air underneath them. I hope we keep them on the ground and get lucky, because I don’t think they’ve done a good job of keeping them on the ground or making an effort to keep them on the ground. We’ve got Daytona behind us without getting any cars airborne, at least to my knowledge or recollection. I hope we can keep the string going.”
Sunday's race will be the first Cup race at Talladega without a restrictor plate since 1988, as NASCAR's new aerodynamic rules package calls for the replacement of the plate by a tapered spacer. That change resulted in a 100+ hp increase. To counterbalance the power increase, NASCAR increased the spoiler height to nine inches.
“That’s surprising,” Jimmie Johnson told NBC Sports after making a 201+ mph lap in final practice. “Here you add a nine-inch spoiler and you add that little wicker, it’s pretty small on the scale of the rest of it. There’s usually a bubble when you get a couple of feet away from a bumper and that bubble is gone. You go right to their bumper.”
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