In most comments following Sunday’s race, drivers said they could tell no difference in the racing with the new package, or in some instances, thought it was worse than last year.
Officially, Sunday’s race featured five cautions (two for stage breaks) and three green-flag passes for the lead. There were 10 official lead changes (including during pit stops and green-flag pit stops) and two drivers combined to lead 244 of the 400 laps.
“You know, it was our fourth data point. You start at Phoenix, went to COTA, Richmond and now Martinsville, so lessons learned,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said Tuesday in an interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“We’ll dive into that. I was very difficult to pass. I don’t think that was anything anyone would deny. Track position, again, was hugely important. Toward that, there was some strategy – two tires and no tires.
“We’ll look at if there are other levers to pull.”
The top three finishers in Sunday’s race – race winner Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. – all spent most of the race running mid-pack or worse but by staying out during late cautions in the race, moved to the front and were able hold off cars on newer tires.
Sawyer said one additional factor is the experience Cup teams have gained since the Next Gen car debuted last season and their ability to adapt to changes.
“The other part to take into consideration is these race teams in Cup are really good – really, really good,” he said. “So, when you get on a place like Martinsville that’s really tight, passing is going to be tough. It’s going to be difficult.
“Strategy played into it this weekend. I know they’ll be a lot of dialogue around that. Again, it’s our fourth data point with this package and we’re not sitting here saying we won’t make additional changes if we need to.
“We’re always going to try to make our racing better, not only for our drivers and competitors but most importantly our fans. If there is something we need to do, we’ll look at it and see what levers we can pull.”
The new rules package for short tracks and road courses, which was tested in the offseason at Phoenix, consists of a 2-inch spoiler and the removal of three diffuser strakes and engine panel strakes. The changes led to an approximately 30-percent reduction in downforce.
