If at first you don’t succeed, try again.
That’s the lesson this week as NASCAR looks to, yet again, curb its problem of racecars traveling at high speeds and rolling over.
The idea of a shark fin of sorts that would run down the right side of the drivers’ front windshields was floated this past week to a mixed reception. Some were happy that NASCAR was trying to fix the problems, and some (mainly drivers) voiced the obvious concern of a 2-in. tall piece of what is essentially plexiglass running down the right side of their windshields could affect visibility.
Naturally, NASCAR put it in reverse, and the result came in an announcement earlier this week.
Three distinct changes will be made to the cars this weekend in anticipation of high-speed crashes (this is Talladega Superspeedway, after all). First and foremost, a see-through roof rail has been added to the car that stands at about 2 inches tall along the right side of the vehicle.
The intended application here revolves around what happens when the car turns sideways at high speeds. With a taller roof rail, when the car turns to the left and spins in a normal direction, the air that gets shoved against the car will be pressing down much harder on the top of the car than it would without the taller rail. Think about a traditional spoiler: as air moves over it, downforce forces that portion of the car into the asphalt.
The rail will have small splits cut into it, known as bevels, that will allow a small amount of air to pass through the roof rail and onward to the next safety precaution: a piece of cloth.
Don’t laugh just yet. According to Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, NASCAR’s vp of vehicle performance, these modifications increase takeoff speeds at a 90-degree angle by about 25%. The cloth will be fastened to the same side roof flap as the new rail and will function with the same goal in mind. Instead of letting air pass through while activating the flap as normal, this new modification supposedly provides resistance to the air moving through and thus creates more downforce.
While this isn’t a new piece of technology (the left side of the car already has such a flap in place), NASCAR added the flap to this side to assist the car with downforce earlier in the spin.
The third addition is an extension to the rocker panel. To fans who can’t point one out on sheer sight alone, the rocker panel is where the exhaust exits on the Next Gen car. These additions will be the hardest to notice but arguably could be the most effective.
NASCAR noticed a small area of pressurization in front of the rear tires, which in layman’s terms means that an air bubble could form there and thus flip the car. The side skirts will look virtually the same on television, but inside is where the magic happens.
This fin will attempt to cut through that aforementioned pressure zone and keep air flow moving the way it needs to underneath the car. With more force pushing down on the top of the car and less room for pressure to build underneath it, NASCAR is now taking a multifaceted approach to limiting flips like Corey LaJoie‘s at Michigan International Speedway and Josh Berry‘s at Daytona International Speedway.
The big question here: will any of this even matter?
To make a long story short, yes, it will, but it won’t be night and day.
Racecars have always flipped, and they probably always will. That’s not the goal here, though. The goal for NASCAR is to keep cars from flipping as often.
Nobody will ever say that flipping is going away, especially not in this sport. Racecars going fast will always flip, but it’s NASCARS job to keep it from happening as much as it possibly can, and that’s exactly what NASCAR is trying to do this weekend at Talladega.
Tanner Marlar is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated’s OnSI Network, a contributor for TopSpeed.com, an AP Wire reporter, an award-winning sports columnist and talk show host and master's student at Mississippi State University. Soon, Tanner will be pursuing a PhD. in Mass Media Studies. Tanner began working with Frontstretch as an Xfinity Series columnist in 2022.