Success of 2010 rides with drivers after rules changes

CONCORD, N.C. -- Boys, have at it.

You wanted the elimination of bump-drafting restrictions at Daytona and Talladega, you got it. You wanted more power for the Daytona 500, you got it. You wanted to replace the rear wing on the Sprint Cup car with a spoiler, you got it. You wanted the yellow-line rule to stay, it stays. You want NASCAR to go easier on you when you punt and bump and argue with one another, you got it.

Back to basics

NASCAR has announced that it will relax some on-track rules, putting racing back in the drivers' hands in 2010.

• Complete story
• Video: Rear spoiler is back
• Video: Pemberton on changes
• Video: Bump-drafting notice
• Video: Character and contact

Perhaps never in its long history has NASCAR acceded to so many of its competitors' wishes at once as it's doing this season, in unleashing a flurry of changes born out of meetings between drivers and top series executives. It's still not a democracy, not by any means. But after a wearying year of hearing complaints and seeing dwindling ticket sales and television ratings, NASCAR has effectively turned the quality of the show over to the men behind the wheel. It's like a parent tossing a son the keys to the family car, and finding out whether he can keep it pointed straight ahead.

"They've got the Brahma bull now," said consultant and former race track promoter Humpy Wheeler. "We'll see who can ride it."

After a few years of "holding the line on change" -- the NASCAR mantra directed at appeasing traditional fans who may not have been comfortable seeing the car, the championship structure, and the series sponsor all altered during a relatively short span of time -- the changes came fast and furious Thursday during a preseason Media Tour visit to the NASCAR Research and Development Center. The rear wing, reviled by so many for its aesthetics as much as its performance characteristics, will be replaced by a rear spoiler sometime after a test at Charlotte Motor Speedway in March. The openings on the Daytona 500 restrictor plate will be the biggest since 1989, giving teams more horsepower. Crackdowns on bump-drafting, which took on an almost draconian quality in the most recent restrictor-plate event, are a thing of the past.

There were a number of other modifications, too -- NASCAR competitors will now have a list of banned drugs, Nationwide teams will be limited to 15 crew members including the driver, Camping World Truck events will feature double-file restarts and the return of traditional pit stops. Many of these ideas came out of a series of offseason meetings chairman Brian France and president Mike Helton held with individual teams, following up on the larger "town hall" assemblies the NASCAR executives presided over last spring. (Continued)