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The Winds of Change


NASCAR mandates changes, and the Old Dominion 500 from Martinsville, VA.





Super-Speedway Parity............   More Changes

The winds of change have once again blown over the Cup teams as they prepare for the final super-speedway race of the season. Chevrolets have dominated at Daytona and Talladega this season, and have dominated at Talladega since the '99 season.

The Pontiac teams have been carping that they have an aerodynamic disadvantage. Every time a Pontiac or Chevrolet wins, the Ford teams complain that they are at a disadvantage. The Pontiac teams do not have much to crow about at Talladega or Daytona. There have been 31 races in the spring at Talladega, and Pontiacs have only taken the checkered flag twice. Richard Petty won the spring race in '83, and Bobby Labonte won in '98. There have been 32 races at Talladega in the fall, and the Pontiac has the distinction of being winless at these events.

The Pontiac's statistics at Daytona are not much better. Out of the 42 Daytona 500 events, the Pontiac has won three times. Cale Yarborough won with a Pontiac in '83, and won again with a Chevrolet in '84. In the 42 summer races at Daytona, which are now called the Pepsi 500, the Pontiac has won five times, the last being Richard Petty's victory in '84. The Pontiac has won eight of the 42 twin 125 mile qualifying races for the Daytona 500, which translates to eight wins in 84 races.

In all fairness, I cannot honestly say how many Pontiacs were entered in all of those races. In looking at these statistics, it appears that if you are going off to race at a super-speedway, your best bet is to leave your Pontiac sitting in the race shop. Take an Edsel, a Rambler, or a Matador, anything other than a Pontiac. By the way, Bobby Allison won one of the Twin 125 qualifying races at Daytona in '75 with an American Motor's Matador. Bobby did not win the Daytona 500 with it, but he did win three pole positions and three races with the Matador that season.

Believe it or not, the Fords are getting a bigger break in changes for the October 21st Talladega race than the Pontiacs. NASCAR has mandated that the roof air deflectors on the Pontiac be pared down from 1 3/8 inches to 1 1/4 inches. Wow, a whole 1/8 of an inch! The Ford is getting 3/4 inches taken off of each side of their rear spoilers, reducing the spoiler width from 57 inches to 55 1/2 inches. It appears that the gear that squeaks the loudest, gets the most grease.
The copyright of the article The Winds of Change in NASCAR is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish The Winds of Change in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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