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New 2005 Rules Tested

© Thomas M. Sampson

The 2005 season is now well under way with NASCAR's new rules getting their first outing at the Fontana, California facility this past weekend. For the most part, a lot of the new rules worked the way they were intended. As far as the rules that apply to the changes to the racecars are concerned, it appears that some teams like them, but most of them don't.

The California Speedway event saw a lot of tire problems and a lot of control problems with the racecars. Taking a full inch off of the rear spoilers made the cars more difficult to handle and a lot of competitors seemed to have had brushes with the outside wall, even though most were of a slight nature.

The new qualifying rules that require the cars to be impounded after qualifying until the race begins, had a major impact on a lot of race teams. The Dale Earnhardt Inc. teams seemed to have had problems with their race set-ups as opposed to a qualifying set-up. The #8 car, which had a major problem with blowing the left front tire, appeared to have been running the race with a qualifying set up. The left tire was leaned in too much causing it to run on the edge instead of the flat surface. In past years, the cars used to use this trick to make the car turn to the left easier while qualifying, getting more speed and a better starting position in the race. The cars usually only had to run two or three laps with this type of set-up which was not enough to wear the tire enough where it would blow out. What ever happened to the tire alignment on the #8 car caused it to be un-competitive in the event. Whether it was actually the crew chief's mistake or some type of major mechanical failure remains to be seen.

Most of the competitors are lauding the changes NASCAR has made to their policing policy concerning pit road speed. They are using a computerized system this year that automatically times each and every car's speed as it enters and transcends its way through the pit area. They used to have a couple of officials who timed one or two cars by hand, choosing them at random. This allowed some cars to speed while one or two were caught. This isn't going to happen anymore, all cars are timed now on pit road with the same transponders that are used to keep track of the cars while they are on the track. The little sending units are usually mounted inside of the right rear wheel well where their signals are available to the different areas around the track that are mounted on the outside walls and flag stand/finish line. The amount of receiving areas for the transponders depends on the size and shape of the track.

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