On Tuesday, NASCAR announced and delivered the finalized 2015 rules packages for all three national series. The package has been in development for more than year, involving many different people within the sport and a series of on-track tests.
“This race package represents a lot of hard work by NASCAR, the race teams, the drivers, our manufacturer partners and Goodyear,” Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR senior vice president of innovation and racing development, said. “We’ve remained committed to constantly looking at our racing, and the work that has been done has been aimed at getting a rules package delivered to the race teams as early as possible.”
Looking through the list of changes, there are nearly 60 enhancements that are being made, including adjustments to the power train, aerodynamics and chassis that are designed to give teams more adjustability in the cars, to therefore bring forth closer racing and more opportunities to pass on track.
“We have had fantastic racing so far in 2014,” Stefanyshyn said. “We remain committed to constantly looking to improve it. Our fans deserve it and our industry is pushing for it. That will not stop with the 2015 package; the development will continue over many years to come.”
The competitive changes include a shorter rear spoiler (six inches versus eight inches), 38-inch radiator pan, minimum weight drops 50lbs via ballast reduction, reduction of horsepower to 725hp via tapered spacer, roller valve lifters to replace flat valve lifter, lower rear differential gear ratios targeting 9000 RPM, and an optional driver adjustable track bar in the Sprint Cup Series package. They also announced that group qualifying will be utilized for the first time in the Daytona 500 versus the single-car runs as back in January.
Additionally, team-facilitated private testing has been eliminated, with race teams only being allowed to test when invited to a NASCAR / Goodyear test throughout the season. The sanctioning body has also announced that there will be no pre-season testing at Daytona International Speedway next year.
“We’re very pleased with the rules package and what it will do for our racing,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. said. “We’re confident it will continue to generate great racing, along with continuous safety improvements.
“The work alongside our industry has been unprecedented. We’ve had great dialogue with our drivers and teams, our manufacturers and Goodyear, allowing us to build greater efficiencies into the 2015 rules package. We’ve met our goal of delivering rules to teams with time to prepare for next season and we’re seeing the benefits of an updated process for developing our rules paying dividends. It will only continue to improve.”
The changes extend to a change in the officiating policy, requiring a data log and capture system for pre-race inspection and automated pit road officiating at race events. NASCAR also updated the parts approval process for pre-event inspection, they have an electronic copy of the rulebook now and what brake calibers are allowed has been revised.
About the author
Residing in Canada, she freelances for a number of racing publications, from SpeedwayMedia.com to On Pit Road while covering local short tracks up in Ontario.
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