NASCAR's ongoing battle to keep cars on track instead of airborne continues ahead of this weekend's Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. Early this week, the series' sanctioning body was considering a drastic change that would have put a shark fin-like piece running down the entire length of the greenhouse on the right-side of the car. The proposed air deflector would have extended down the windshield itself, creating possible visibility issues and concerns.
Those plans were scrapped this afternoon, as NASCAR instead introduced three different changes for this weekend's critical playoff race:
- Added fabric on the right side of the roof flaps which will block more air whenever the roof flaps come up
- Added a skirt to the bottom of the rocker panel near the base of the car
- Extended the right-side roof rail by two inches with polycarbonate, though it will not touch the windshield
NASCAR is implementing a new 3-part solution to help prevent cars lifting off at superspeedways when sideways.
— Bozi Tatarevic (@BoziTatarevic) October 1, 2024
The first part is the right side roof rails being extended to 2-inches with polycarbonate material. The piece will not extended to the windshield as tested earlier. pic.twitter.com/Oi2Jsa3hJ7
There has been a renewed push to limit the possibility for airborne accidents since Corey LaJoie's unexpected flip at Michigan in August. It was the first blow-over crash at a non-superspeedway track in the Cup Series since 2010. Before arriving at Daytona International Speedway later that same month, NASCAR mandated a new air deflector above the back window on the right-side of the car, matching an existing one on the left. Officials claimed it would increase the velocity needed for the cars to lift off the ground by another 15% to 20%.
Unfortunately, the initial changes weren't enough. Michael McDowell nearly flipped in front of the field during the race, but soon after, Josh Berry went for a terrifying ride down the backstretch. After spinning to the inside of the track, the No. 4 Ford Mustang immediately lifted off the ground, flipping onto its roof before skidding into the inside-wall and spinning like a top while remaining on its lid. Berry emerged unharmed, but the wreck only increased concerns throughout the garage with Talladega still ahead on the schedule.
