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It’s no secret in the NASCAR community that the short track racing product has left a lot to be desired. Following this weekend’s race at New Hampshire, NASCAR will stage a test to find some new ways to improve the racing on short tracks. Here is everything you need to know about that test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and how others are reacting to this.
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The test will take place on Monday, July 17 and Tuesday, July 18 following the Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. NASCAR also announced today the six drivers that would be at the test. Those drivers are Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, William Byron, Justin Haley, Ryan Preece, and Erik Jones.
This means that there will be one Toyota team, two Ford teams, and three Chevrolet teams at the test. Bell is the lone driver at the test who has won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway before, and he and Byron are the only two drivers at the test who have won a race this season.
According to Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut, NASCAR is testing changes to allow drivers to both follow better and pass easier, with the biggest of these changes will be a brand new splitter. Corey LaJoie called the philosophy behind these changes “freaking wild” to Weaver.
Weaver further goes into detail about the new splitter NASCAR will be testing. He describes this new splitter as a “reverse splitter.” The goal is to give the leader lift in clean air, while giving the trailing car more downforce in dirty air.
Weaver also reports that NASCAR will be testing multiple downforce settings on the car including the changes to the underwing. NASCAR is also debuting a new tire compound for this weekend’s race at New Hampshire aimed at producing more tire wear, and, hopefully, more passing. This new tire compound has been something that many drivers, most specifically, Denny Hamlin, have advocated for to improve racing on short tracks.
NASCAR’s Managing Director of Racing Communications, Mike Forde, teased this short track test in a NASCAR on NBC podcast. He noted in the podcast that any changes because of this upcoming test would not be implemented until 2024.
[The changes] might not be able to be implemented in 2023, just because there is a lot of production following [the test], and to create seven different floors for 40 cars in a short period of time probably won’t happen.
Mike Forde
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is putting the fate of short track racing in NASCAR on the shoulders of the drivers at this test.
Sam hall wants this to be a public test.
Yeah Mike, I do not think you will be getting your wish.
Patrick says that unless there is more horsepower, then there is no point.
Chad Depew is curious about the lack of “veterans” in the group.
Kaleb L still wonders why they are not testing more horsepower.
As for whether or not this will work, we will have to wait and see until next season. At the very least, NASCAR is looking at trying something new.
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