With the Next Gen car taking center stage, it’s difficult to predict how the races will turn out. The biggest shock came during the season’s opener at the Daytona 500, where drivers turned to fuel-saving tactics. This resulted in uneventful and stale racing for a large part of Stage 1. Drivers like Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and Corey La Joie were disappointed with the tactics, but Joey Logano described it as a “different strategy … a different way of racing.”
Going into this Sunday’s race at Talladega, Logano believes that all the drivers will put this tactic to use. Explaining the big shift in tactics, the Penske driver also presented a solution that could put an end to fuel-saving tactics. One that demands Goodyear to deliver on its promise of making the race more exciting and thrilling.
Joey Logano thinks tire wear is a quick way to end the fuel saving at Superspeedways
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The drivers have realized that their arguments and pleas against NASCAR to make big changes to the racecar will fall on deaf ears. Therefore, the only viable solution to improve racing is to make changes to the tires. The tire wear race in Bristol was something for the drivers to cheer about, but going to Talladega, Logano isn’t hopeful of any tire wear. Thus forcing the driver to work around the fuel-saving strategy.
Speaking on the SiriusXM NASCAR radio show, he explained, “How does that go away? Well, one would be needing to take tires… If you need the tires, then you wouldn’t be waiting for fuel anymore, and you would be wide open all-time. So if you have more tire wear, that would probably get rid of that. I don’t think we will.”
He further added that track positions will be key this weekend, and the usual chaos will ensue as stages come to an end. “So I think that’s what you’re going to see is everyone trying to save as much as they can; it’s all about the pit exchange, getting themselves track positions, and then from there, you’re going to race it out to the end of the stage, hard as you can.”
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But how exactly do the fuel-saving strategies work, and why do drivers make the most of it? Well, Kyle Busch, who was seemingly frustrated with these tricky tactics, had a perfect explanation for this.
Busch explains why drivers resort to fuel-saving
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The Next Gen car is big on aerodynamic features, which come to light at big speedway races. While leading the field is optimal and sensible at other racetracks, it’s not preferred at Daytona or Talladega. At such venues, the lead car creates a draft, a low-pressure zone, which allows the tailing racecar to lift and save on fuel.
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Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show, the RCR driver said, “I mean, you’re going to be in the draft. So when you get in the draft and you’re behind guys, if you’re three rows back or four rows back, you can start lifting out of the gas. Actually, you can save fuel, so when you come to pit road for the next pit stop, your time on pit road for a shorter fill to get a full tank of fuel is going to be quicker than some of the other guys that are further up front, that are using more gas.”
Perhaps Joey Logano summed up fuel-saving the best during his interview. “It’s just like any other game that’s played, it’s going to change and evolve, and you have to keep up with it.”
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