How much will the increased draft boost passing at Indianapolis?
INDIANAPOLIS – Despite three practice sessions for Sunday's Brickyard 400, it's impossible to quantify just how much the higher-drag modifications to the Sprint Cup Series cars will affect the racing. It is apparent, however, that passing at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway won't magically be easy.
The cars at Indianapolis have a nine-inch spoiler (three inches higher than normal) and a larger splitter edge and bigger radiator pans. The changes were mandated by NASCAR in an effort to increase drag created by the cars. The higher drag means that, theoretically, trailing cars would have a large draft effect from the car in front of them.
The draft effect would then help facilitate passing. Which, according to Denny Hamlin, is still going to be hard to do. The fastest way around Indianapolis is single-file through the corners. While two-wide racing in the turns is feasible, it's not optimal.
"Passing will be tough to say the least," Hamlin said. "We're trying something new. I can't fault them for trying – they tried what we wanted to try and I thought we had a pretty successful race [at Kentucky] and now we're trying something different. We'll see if it's better or not. Still, here is a very tough race track. This is a one-groove race track where it's definitely been tough to pass here for 15 years or as long as I've been there. It's just going to be one of those tracks."
Cars typically don't run in close proximity during practice. Sunday's race will be the first real test of the modifications. But some teams – like Carl Edwards and his No. 19 team – tried to draft off other cars as much as possible.
And the draft does work. You can see cars catch up to the car ahead down Indianapolis' long front and back straightaways. But just because a car gets close doesn't mean it's able to pass. The draft goes away when a car pulls out to pass. The momentum gained in the draft seems to quickly go away. Or it hits its crescendo too close to a corner to make a move.
Joey Logano noted the dramatic effect of the draft Friday morning. But he also noted the potential downside of the higher drag package. The turbulent air from the car ahead negatively affects the handling of the trailing car in the corner. What the draft can give on the straights, the turbulence can take away in the corners.
"I drafted a car down the back straightaway as he was pulling in just to get closer and the amount of speed you gain as you get closer and closer to that car in front of you; and then I pulled out because he was pulling in – and when I pulled back into the air it was like putting the brakes on. It was like 'whoa.' The draft is huge," Logano said.
"What that does in the corners is going to be a different ballgame. Obviously, the hole in the air is larger, so druving the cars through the corners is going to be more challenging, but the drag down the straightaway will that overcome what the challenge is in the corner? We'll just have to wait and see. I think that's going to be an interesting part of the race."
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
