NASCAR ended the final day of its test at Richmond Raceway with a more positive vibe after driver feedback about different tire compounds, which has prompted plans for another test in the near future.
The six Cup Series drivers on hand once again did multiple pack runs with inverts, not only testing tires for Goodyear but a different aero package. After not seeing or feeling what was hoped for with the lift splitter on Monday, the rear diffuser was removed from the Next Gen car, two inches were added to the spoiler (to make it four inches tall), and on the lift splitter, an extension was added to the downturn part to exaggerate its effect.
“I thought visually it was very good; we were pretty happy with how that looked,” Dr. Eric Jacuzzi, NASCAR vice president of vehicle performance, said. “(We) went to the second set of tires, which had a little thicker thread on them, so a lot more grip in those. Drivers were really positive about that, said it laid down a lot of rubber, they could move around a lot behind each other.
“It was a pretty good, pretty positive outcome. We got some positive comments that the diffuser not being there made the car a little more forgiving on corner entry. It felt like they could slide around a little more and move around. We were pretty happy with that, for sure.”
Most of Tuesday was spent testing tires, which is what the drivers felt made the most difference. Even with the change in the aero package, it didn’t appear to make a significant difference in feel from what drivers are used to running.
“They were pretty unanimously positive with that (being the right direction on tires),” Jacuzzi said. “Just that even on warmup laps they could feel the added grip and really felt like they could move around and they were even commenting that rubber was getting put down on the short (runs). So, all that was a positive.