The Fords get a break, more financial problems for Kmart, special edition magazines, and it's time to order your 2002 Preview and Press Guide.
Give Them an Inch..........
Give them an inch and they would be disappointed, they would complain that they should have gotten two. That is pretty much the case with the Ford teams after the sanctioning body relented and removed one quarter of an inch off of their rear spoilers. They were tested with up to a half of an inch removed, but NASCAR opted to go with the one quarter inch removal which now makes their rear spoiler the same dimension as that of the Chevrolet. Both the Fords and the Chevrolets will be racing the Daytona 500 with spoilers fifty-seven inches wide and six and one quarter inches high. The Dodges and Pontiacs will be racing with spoilers fifty-seven inches wide by six and one half inches high. I still have to agree with some of the GM teams who remind us that the Dodge was designed off of the Ford template, and should use the same spoiler.
The age old adage about the squeaky gear getting the grease comes into play here. Rusty Wallace's whining and the grumbling from the Jack Roush Racing teams has paid off to some extent. Although, Frank Stoddard, crew chief on the No. 99 Roush Racing's CITGO Ford is still complaining that they should be racing with six inch spoilers. We will soon see how stable the Fords are with the shorter spoilers when the air gets taken off of them.
The GM people are contending that the spoiler dimension for the Fords is now practically the same as the way it was in 2000 when they dominated both Daytona races that year. The allegations of sandbagging by the Ford teams continue. GM is wondering how Fords could do so badly during six days of testing with practically the same setup that they dominated with two years ago? No one was sandbagging? Practice sessions for the Daytona 500 will begin February eighth and qualifying will be held on the following day. I think the qualifying session will be the best time to contemplate model parity. The racecars will be running by themselves, at full song with their qualifying engine packages.
 |
