NASCAR to Reduce Horsepower in Sprint Cup Series Cars for 2015

[FloridaFan88]

EXCLUSIVE: NASCAR considering horsepower reduction in 2015 | FOX Sports on MSN

I personally think that this is a great idea. I'm sure that horespower reduction will improve the racing quality on the 1.5 milers.

 

[4WideRacing]

The changes could make the races better and make it cheaper for the teams. It could also make it more appealing for the cup guys to race Nationwide. :-/

 

[dalejrgamer]

Great idea, let's take away the power and watch the racing grow worse.

Solve the dirty air problem, morons.

 

[bigrolltide1877]

Yep this is a bad ideal. The racing has been better this year with the new package and there already wanting to change stuff for 2015. There only 4 races into this year. Damn nascar is all about change if it aint broke dont fix it.

 

[thisguy]

Get rid of the aero first. They are so hesitant to change anything about the car bodies when that is the main problem here.

 

[Brandon Howe]

Or, they could go and give the teams softer tires and take away downforce to make the cars drive mechanically instead of aerodynamically.

 

[ThatOneShredder]

We've seen a plate race, (practically) two short track races, and a 1.5 mile cookie-cutter track race. That must mean we've seen it all and know everything about how the racing will be this year. Morons. Hell, I thought they'd leave everything alone since Jr is doing well so far, lol.

 

[4WideRacing]

Decreasing horsepower would help extend the engine's life.... what does that have to do with making racing better? Nascar said he primary thing is to try to cut costs for the teams and hopefully make the racing better....

 

[RP Motorsports]

Great idea, let's take away the power and watch the racing grow worse.

Solve the dirty air problem, morons.

Get rid of the aero first. They are so hesitant to change anything about the car bodies when that is the main problem here.

Or, they could go and give the teams softer tires and take away downforce to make the cars drive mechanically instead of aerodynamically.

The high speeds are what contributes to the dirty vs. clean air issue. The higher the speeds, the more discrepancy between the two. More speed requires more downforce, especially in dirty air, to keep the car planted (grip) to carve your way through traffic.

You cant just "get rid of the aero" (unless you've found a way to alter physics). Simply put, the faster you're moving, the more the aerodynamics are going to affect the car. And theres only so much mechanical grip you can build into the cars to counter affect the aerodynamics at high speeds.

Also, you cant take away downforce without reducing the speeds (for the reasons stated above). That is, unless you want the COT v2.0. Because thats exactly what it was. Coming out of Gen4, the fans proclaimed that they wanted to see cars that were harder to drive to "put it back in the drivers hands". So NASCAR cut the downforce considerably, replaced the coil-binded setup with a bump-stop setup, and created a car that had more instability and significantly less aero grip. But kept the horse/speeds the same. And the end result was a car that couldnt handle worth a damn in dirty air, thus putting a premium on clean air, and hurting the overall on-track product significantly.

Now with the Gen6 they've gone back in the direction they need to be in, which is putting more downforce into the cars (to counter the aerodynamics that come with high speeds), as well as providing some more mechanical grip in areas that can handle it. And overall, the racing has been a lot better than with the COT. Which is mostly because of the added downforce.

So the point being, reducing power/speed reduces the affects of the aerodynamics. Which is a good thing. In addition to that, it could potentially save teams money (which was the main objective). Thats a win-win situation. The thing to keep in mind, as far as the racing itself, is this is a multifaceted beast. When you change one thing, theres going to be several other things that need to be changed with it so everything jives. And theres never going to be one single end-all be-all solution. The first step is reducing the speeds, and then its finding better ways to utilize the downforce to counter the aero effects (particularly under-body downforce instead of big wake-making spoilers).

 

[RP Motorsports]

Y'all see the last quarter of that Nationwide series race?? Thats a good example of what you're aiding by decreasing horsepower/speeds. Theres less of a discrepancy in the aero effects (clean vs. dirty air), and you can drive it way deeper into the turns. And that was at Fontana, which is one of the most aero dependent tracks on the schedule.

 

[richiesbx137]

I actually also I think it will be safer because some tracks like Texas it's getting way too fast with speeds going almost 200 mph average. They need to slow it down, plus look what happened in Daytona last year with Larson engines in the fence. Plus it saves money as well.


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[evan07]

If you look at the article on Jayski NASCAR said the decreased power will also come with tire and areo changes. So it might work out.

 

[Brandon Howe]

I actually also I think it will be safer because some tracks like Texas it's getting way too fast with speeds going almost 200 mph average. They need to slow it down, plus look what happened in Daytona last year with Larson engines in the fence. Plus it saves money as well.


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Larson's incident had nothing to do with speed, and decreasing horse power would not have kept his engine in the track.

 

[TheSubaru2012]

My prediction is that NASCAR will reduce the cars to 600hp

 

[Henry J]

Every time the cars get close to the 200 MPH mark they knock down horsepower. I agree it will be around 600 HP. To me that's a good thing, but they shouldn't stop there. Aero is a problem, but it could be fixed by going back to stock bodies and floors. What that does is make bigger holes in the air, so it is easier to catch the car that is ahead without loosing grip. It also makes it possible to pass on the big tracks without the help of another driver. It will be better for tire life because there is less downforce on them. It would put more importance on driver skills rather than car setups. Sure, they won't be as fast, but you can't tell the difference between 165 and 190 MPH unless you watch the clock. I've seen Nascar do this twice before, so they know that cutting HP alone won't do the trick. If they do it right they could toss the restrictor plates for the big tracks too. Reducing horsepower alone will only make things worse. I really hope they follow through with this.

Here is a little Nascar humor for you.

Q: Why doesn't Nascar have a rulebook?
A: Because they always change the rules before it gets to the printer.

 

[thisguy]

Aero is a problem, but it could be fixed by going back to stock bodies and floors.

As awesome as it would be, I highly doubt we're ever going to see Nascar put legit stock cars on the race track ever again.

 

[James J]

The teams are going to spend the same money on developing a 5.0L engine, or the current engine with a spacer, as they do now. That's not going to change anything. The engines already survive pretty well in this day, but wouldn't a gear ratio change be better? Limit the amount of RPMs. I personally like the speeds we are at. I think the racing has been great compared to what we put up with for the better part of the last 10 years. They just need to leave things alone, and see where things go.

 

[N0Fear88]

The teams are going to spend the same money on developing a 5.0L engine, or the current engine with a spacer, as they do now. That's not going to change anything. The engines already survive pretty well in this day, but wouldn't a gear ratio change be better? Limit the amount of RPMs. I personally like the speeds we are at. I think the racing has been great compared to what we put up with for the better part of the last 10 years. They just need to leave things alone, and see where things go.

I totally agree. Theres been rule changes (some extremely significant like a completely new car) for the last 4 seasons in a row. Give teams at least 2 years to adapt to the changes, and see where things go.

 

[tomtomfarris]

does anyone know any good new schedule change rumors for 2015? next year seems like they may do just as many changes as this year.