 | | Drivers were well aware of Mike Helton's warning against rough bump drafting during the Duels. Credit: Autostock |
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
February 16, 2006
09:42 PM EST (02:42 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Carl Edwards was thinking about the new "no zones'' that NASCAR president Mike Helton warned drivers about before Thursday's qualifying race when he saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. in his rearview mirror. "I wasn't exactly sure where they were, and I slid up in front of [Earnhardt] off of [Turn] 2 that one time,'' Edwards said. "I was like, 'He's coming, but I think we're in one of those zones. Bam! Nope, we must be out of it. Whoa!'" Earnhardt, sitting next to Edwards in the post-race press conference, smiled and said, "I think we were just past it.'' The "no zones,'' areas marked by orange dots where drivers were told bump drafting would result in a penalty, were the topic of conversation before, during and after the two 150-mile qualifying races for Sunday's Daytona 500. The warning apparently worked because NASCAR didn't have to intervene in either race. "It's a matter of sometimes NASCAR reminding the guys what we knew all along, that they can control it, and they can do it better than we can do it,'' Helton said. "That was evident.'' But Helton said NASCAR will continue to develop other ways to discourage bump drafting, such as a front bumper that would be damaged to the point it would hurt the aerodynamics if the bump is too hard. The hope is to have something ready in time for the April 30 race at Talladega, the next restrictor-plate event after Daytona. "I wouldn't bank on this being a long-term deal,'' Helton said with a laugh. "History has shown us we can capture moments, but as time goes on we creep back into different scenarios.'' Most drivers admitted they were not as aggressive, which Helton said was the real problem when he addressed the issue. Elliott Sadler, who won the first race, wasn't sure how much of that had to do with Helton's warning or drivers wanting to protect their cars for Sunday. "Eighty percent of it is protecting your car,'' he said. Sadler was anxious to watch the second race, won by Jeff Gordon, so he could get a better idea of how NASCAR plans to enforce the rule. "Until somebody gets called in for a pass-through penalty, nobody really knows where the line is,'' he said. "But I'm sure somebody is going to push the line and push it a lot come Sunday.'' Bump drafting became a hot topic after Sunday's Budweiser Shootout when reigning Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart said somebody was going to get killed if NASCAR didn't stop it. NASCAR officials on Tuesday announced they would monitor bump drafting, particularly in the turns and tri-oval. They said the penalty would range from a pass through to being parked if there are repeat offenses. "We didn't want to get into this and you didn't want us to get into it,'' Helton said at the driver's meeting. "But due to what is occurring on the racetrack, this is where we are at.'' Stewart, who after the Shootout spent 20 minutes in a heated discussion with NASCAR officials about bump drafting, declined to broach the subject after finishing eighth in the first race. "I talked for two days about that,'' he said. "Ask something else.'' But Stewart did note that the rear bumpers after the first race, as they were in the second race, were cleaner than they were after the Shootout. "They don't look like Martinsville, do they?'' he said of the Virginia short track where cars typically are beat up. Despite Helton's comment about bumpers, Earnhardt hopes this will be the end of NASCAR's involvement. "They could change the bumpers and stuff, but we'll still run into them 'cause that's what we do,'' he said. "It's best left in the drivers' hands. I don't think NASCAR can step in and make any improvement. They'll probably make the situation a whole lot worse for us.'' Earnhardt said the problem, something Helton acknowledged, comes from inexperienced drivers that don't know how to use the bump draft. Sadler agreed. "I can honestly sit here and say that some of the young guys have come in and just saw it on TV the last year or two and thought it looked cool, so they slam you wherever they want, and it makes it tough,'' he said. "You don't see the veterans that have won a bunch of races slamming you.'' Kyle Busch, who has been a target for much of the criticism, said pinpointing the younger drivers wasn't totally fair. The second-place finisher in the second race, he observed Stewart and Earnhardt bump drafting in the first race before. Regardless, Jamie McMurray said the issue had to be addressed. "I told someone earlier, there's something about when Mike Helton talks, everyone listens'' he said. "A very powerful voice.'' | 
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