Even as the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup is just barley underway, NASCAR has announced several rule changes for next season. Some of the changes have been long anticipated and relatevialy easy to adapt to, while others are going to take a bit of getting used to on the Sprint Cup circuit.
The most notable change will be an actual reduction in allowable horsepower that each entry can use. There will be an optional driver adjustable track bar available to teams that chose to use it. Also, the rear spoilers will be made a bit shorter for the 2015 season.
All in all there are some 60 other rule changes that NASCAR teams will have to cope with to compete for the Sprint Cup next year. In a move that is sure to bring out some critics, NASCAR will ban all private testing by teams for 2015. Only test sanctioned by NASCAR & Goodyear will be allowed.
Up until now race car teams could test their vechiles and crews at non-sanctioned facilities whenever they took a notion to and thereby do a minimal amount of testing at the tracks that actually host Sprint Cup Series events but, not anymore.
Also canceled is the usual preseason test at Daytona before the big season opening Daytona 500. So, teams will not have to show up at Daytona in January next year. There goes the preseason thunder.
One unexpected change might turn out to be qualifying and racing in the rain when the Sprint Cup races are run on road courses when the weather becomes an issue. That could prove to be interesting.
NASCAR’s senior vice president of innovation and racing development, Gene Stefanyshyn told the press, “Last year when we did the chassis change, we wanted to do the engine power optimization, but it was too much, too fast for the engine builders. So, this year, even though we’ve got the power down, we’re re-balancing the car.”
That power reduction will be back down to 725 horsepower after this year’s 850 horsepower monsters. The cut in power will be achieved mostly through the use of tapered spacers, a practice that is already in use in the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series.
Even with a 125 horsepower cut, experts estimate that top speeds will only be reduced by 3 or 4 miles per hour. Some minor changes are also expected in the new qualifying format which was introduced this year.
