Alterations have teams starting from zero

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Baseball has spring training.

Professional football, basketball and hockey have training camp.

And now, NASCAR has "Preseason Thunder." It's the new moniker assigned to an old tradition -- test sessions at Daytona -- and as the 2003 season roars to life, change is in the air.

Several major alterations have the entire Winston Cup field starting from zero. In a bid to eliminate "aerodynamic push" or the inability to pass, NASCAR officials have mandated several changes designed to bring all four manufacturers more in line with one another.

	Several changes mandated by NASCAR have forced Winston Cup teams to make several adjustments. Credit: Brian Cleary/ISC Photo

Starting this season, all Cup cars will be measured from the same body line -- 60 inches, with a leeway of a half-inch, from the vertical center of the rear axel to the front edge of the roof (or where the windshield begins). Everyone also must run the same size spoiler -- 55 inches wide and six and 1/4 inches tall.

And there's now a minimum weight on the rear axel.

"Its minimum required weight is 3,400 pounds," said John Darby, Winston Cup series director. "So when we weigh the two rear wheels together, the weight can not exceed 1,700 pounds."

NASCAR officials hope the move toward standardization will help them make more uniform rules adjustments -- no different increments for a Ford, a Pontiac, etc. -- plus, eliminate the manufacturer and team squawking that's part of life in the Winston Cup garage.

"It's actually been extremely quiet," said Darby of Tuesday's first sessions, which were staffed by 21 NASCAR officials. Most cars went through a full morning inspection, mostly for the teams' benefit (NASCAR's only test requirement at Daytona is that teams run the appropriate restrictor plate). And although it's too early to tell the new rules' effects, teams know things will be different.

"The drafting is going to be a little bit tougher; the cars are going to be more equal than they've ever been before because of the way the templates are," said James Ince, Johnny Benson's crew chief. "So based on that, it's going to put a lot more emphasis on your engine program and your race car driver and your pit stops -- make sure you call a good race."

Darby said roughly 50 percent of NASCAR's 2003 templates were "matches." He used the example of the "F3" template, which will be the uniform measure of all car rooflines this season.

Some guys think individuality is over-rated.

"I think that's all a bunch of malarkey," said Mike Skinner, whose Pontiac was the day's fastest car. "I think these cars are ought to have the same spoiler, the same everything, and make these guys work on the car."