DARLINGTON, S.C. -- All the retro-themed activity surrounding Darlington Raceway's return to its familiar Labor Day place on the NASCAR schedule has taken some of the attention away from another notable throwback.
To July.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will drop the flag on Round 2 for the reduced-downforce rules package in Sunday's Bojangles' Southern 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Whether it recreates the same mesmerizing racing that highlighted Round 1 -- July 11 at Kentucky Speedway -- remains a wild-card with just two races before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs begin.
NASCAR mandated the rules package with a reduced rear spoiler and other aero changes for a debut at Kentucky's 1.5-mile layout, producing the most competitive race in the series' brief five-year history at the Bluegrass State track. But because of the quick turn between the rules change and race day, the event was conducted with a mismatched tire that left drivers yearning for a softer compound.
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With enough lead time for production, Goodyear has a tire with greater grip in place for Darlington's treacherous 1.366-mile circuit -- a similar-sized track, but a far different environment than Kentucky.
"I think there's more initial grip maybe than I guess what we had at Kentucky," said Paul Wolfe, crew chief for the Team Penske No. 2 Ford driven by Brad Keselowski. "Obviously, the speeds drop off quite a bit, which is what we all were expecting and hoping for. The cars drive reasonable. It's not like they're out of control or anything like that.
"Track temps are pretty darn hot obviously where we're at right now. That'll cool off for the race Sunday night, but overall considering the track conditions for Darlington, fairly pleased how the cars are driving."
NASCAR tested here with the current 2015 rules package June 9-10, then returned for a test June 30 with the reduced-downforce setup. The 43-car field will race with a spoiler height decreased from 6 inches to 3.5, 1.75 fewer inches of overhang on the front splitter, and a splitter extension panel trimmed from 38 to 25 inches.
Teams were allowed to use data-acquisition devices during Friday's practice sessions to help get a jump on the package. The changes created a noticeable difference after just the first of two 115-minute practice sessions for Jeff Gordon, a seven-time winner here.
"It's much better," Gordon said. "I still can't help but reminisce about my earlier years here with a more abrasive track and a tire that just had tremendous grip for about one and a half laps, and then tremendous fall-off. We still don't have that. This tire is pretty hard in comparison to that. And I don't think you're really going to be worrying about wearing tires out this weekend. But there is some fall-off.
"There's no doubt the grip is down. So, trying to find the balance of the cars seems to be pretty tricky. The cars are freer in, tighter in the middle, and free off, which is kind of like of what we fought at Kentucky. But, I liked it there and so far I'm enjoying it here."
The feel was also noteworthy for Aric Almirola, giving the Richard Petty Motorsports throwback No. 43 a whirl in the early going.
"In practice I ran around a few other cars and the balance doesn't change that much when you are behind another car so I am happy about that," Almirola said. "As a race car driver, that is what we want. We want to be able to lift off the gas, use the brake pedal and actually drive the race cars, not just run wide open and steer around the race track. We don't want the car to drastically change balance when you catch another car. I feel like that is what we have here and it is very similar to what we had in Kentucky."
Darlington has reverted to its abrasive nature since its most recent repave in 2007, but still has newer asphalt than Kentucky, which hasn't repaved in full since it opened in 2000. But Darlington also has plenty of grit from the South Carolina sandhills that assist in accelerating tire wear.
The rules package made for three- and four-wide racing on restarts at Kentucky, but also allowed movement among the pack by placing a renewed emphasis on the driver. Darlington's narrow groove won't allow the pack to fan out in wide groups on restarts, but could the increase in passing make an encore?
"It's hard to say based off just one practice, but when you start seeing tire degradation like we did there, I want to believe that it's going to be a little better racing and that there's going to be more opportunities to pass cars," Wolfe said. "The worse your car handles, the more it starts to fall off. That's opportunity for the cars that may be handling a little better and drivers that manage their cars better, I think it opens up opportunities there which will promote the passing that we're all hoping for."