Fuel saving was the name of the game at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, and Denny Hamlin has a solution to the issue, shorter races. Would shorter races mitigate the fuel-saving issues at drafting tracks?
The easiest way to get rid of fuel saving, at least in the stages, is to allow the drivers to make it to the end of the stage without pitting. If they don’t have to pit, then, there’s no incentive to save fuel. Denny Hamlin’s solution for this is to shorten superspeedway races from 500 miles to 400 miles.
What NASCAR could do is just take this take the superspeedway races down to 400 miles, and then the stages would probably line up quite a bit better. If a stage was a fuel run, we would never save because we’re always going to fight for stage points. That’s why we’re fuel saving. We’re fighting to have a little better pit stop 10 laps before the end of a stage so we can jump ahead of the next guy. That’s the whole game that we’re playing
Denny Hamlin
Currently, fuel runs on superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega are between 40-45 laps, so, stages need to be about 40 laps or shorter for drivers to safely make it on one fuel run. Hamlin will get his wish, sort of, at the next superspeedway race at Daytona.
The Coke Zero 400 features a 35-lap stage one and a 60-lap stage two before a 65-lap sprint to the end. Stage one is less than a fuel run, so, there is no incentive to save fuel in stage one, but, stages two and three require a pit stop.
With Hamlin’s idea of shortening races, there is no way to evenly split the stages so all three are less than a fuel run long. As long as there is a pit stop before the end of the race or stage, drivers have an incentive to save fuel. Even if NASCAR got rid of stage breaks, drivers would still be incentivized to save fuel because they could either shorten the final stop or try to complete the race on as few pit stops as possible.
Frankly, NASCAR needs to change the entire meta of superspeedway racing to de-incentivize fuel saving. Modern superspeedway racing is all about track position, and Denny Hamlin said so on this podcast. He said this about how the drag of the current superspeedway package affects how drivers can pass.
When you go to pull out of line and actually pass, it is a parachute. It’s like pulling a dragster parachute when you’re done with your with your run. The car stops immediately because it’s so heavy on drag.
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin proposed rectifying this issue by creating different engine packages for different tracks, but, he also admitted that NASCAR would not go for it due to costs. A different engine package with less horsepower would negate the amount of drag the Next-Gen car would have because, instead of slowing the car down with aerodynamics, it would slow it down via mechanical means.
The fuel saving at Talladega did create an interesting aesthetic, particularly during stage one. The field was 3-wide all the way through, which was interesting to see, but, the drivers weren’t actively racing, they were saving fuel. That’s evidenced by having no cautions for incidents through the first two stages.
The drivers do not like the excessive fuel saving at superspeedways. It makes sense because, instead of actively racing and trying to make their way to the front, they have to lay back and save fuel.
Does it beat the single-file train racing often seen from previous packages? It at least looks better, but, if the drivers are just riding around, is it any better? That’s the tough balance to strike with this debate.
The bottom line is that NASCAR needs to take some big swings to get rid of fuel savings. However, it’s not an easy task.
