Fords get more help, Daytona 500 prelude, and The Great American Race.
Fords Get More Help........
I have always been one to enjoy the old adages of life, regardless of where they came from or the situations that they may refer to. When it comes to the Fords getting their due at Daytona, it reminds me of a couple of the old adages. "The squeaky gear gets the grease," and "Be careful what you ask for, you might get it."
Well the squeaky gear in this case was the Ford teams who have been on a rampage since their arrival in Daytona because of their poor performance. They wanted some aero help from NASCAR. So, they got one quarter inch taken off of their rear spoilers. That was not enough. They were still complaining that they were in dire straits and that they needed much more help. They got another one quarter inch taken off of their rear spoilers. That was not enough. Their poor performance in the Budweiser Shootout was evident that they were not on an even keel with the other three models.
Let's inject a little information at this point in order to keep events in perspective. By removing the inches off of the Fords rear spoilers, the balance of the racecars was severely affected. This was evident in practice sessions when the Fords became harder than usual to handle. As an example, Bret Bodine lost control of his car while cornering and managed to collect up a few other cars with him.
Then, on Friday, February 15th, NASCAR decided to give the Fords another one quarter of an inch reduction of their rear spoilers and also gave the Dodges a one quarter of an inch reduction. Both models were designed from the same template, and the Dodge teams were really horrified that their problems were not being addressed.
At this time, The Ford rear spoiler is set at 5 and three quarter inches in height. The Chevrolet and Dodge rear spoilers are set at six and one quarter inches in height and the Pontiac rear spoiler remains at six and one half inches.
During Saturdays TNT Network's coverage of the Busch Series event, a pit reporter interviewed Rusty Wallace about the Fords situation. Wallace claimed that the Fords received too little too late. He complained that they were still not equal to the other models, and blamed NASCAR for not making the much needed changes during testing so the teams would have had a chance to rebalance the racecars before the opening of Daytona Speedweeks. He also alluded that NASCAR was wrong in their approach of rectifying the problem. Instead of just adjusting the Fords, Wallace claims that NASCAR should have added height to the Chevrolet spoilers.
