Ford teams competing in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series will be working with a newly designed Fusion body in 2016, but don’t expect them to toss away last year’s notes just yet.
“I think a lot of what we learned last year is still relevant, even with the body change,” Todd Gordon, crew chief for driver Joey Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske entry, told NASCAR.com Wednesday. “NASCAR keeps us in a pretty tight tolerance of where the balance of the cars are.
“We went down the common template, COT car (path) for awhile … where it was just a decal difference between the cars. (NASCAR) gave the manufacturers back the ability to identify their cars, which I think is great for our sport. But even with that, as it goes through the process, the manufacturer has to submit it, it’s wind tunnel tested and they look for similar aero attributes out of all the cars.
“This change, I think, is a slight improvement for us. They’ve looked at what they could do to build more brand awareness of the upcoming Fusion model and anytime you get a new platform to work on there are new areas to explore. … But the total as far as a balance standpoint, the cars are very, very similar, body spec to body spec (from ’15 to ’16).”
Ford officials unveiled the new 2017 Fusion production car as well as the ’16 NASCAR entry Jan. 11 during the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit.
Gordon said the majority of the parts provided to race teams by Ford are new for ’16 as the automaker mirrored the on-track piece with the production version. “Just trying to make things a little bit better and create a car that has more brand identity to the upcoming model,” he said.
“Obviously there are NASCAR surfaces that you have to stay within and work around.”
Much of what will initially be learned about the car and how it should perform on the track will be done through the use of off-track tools — simulation programs, CFD and wind tunnel development. Validation will come in the wind tunnel and eventually on the track.
“Ford has done some of that to try and understand some of the sensitivities,” he said, “and what we need to be aware of.”
Gordon made the trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week where teammate Brad Keselowski is one of four drivers taking part in a two-day Goodyear tire test. Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota teams testing are shaking down the 2016 rules package that will be used at tracks other than superspeedways this season, in addition to providing Goodyear officials with tire data.
“You get to see it, hear it, feel it, be a part of it and ask questions as you want,” Gordon said. “And you get the 100 percent rundown instead of the CliffsNotes version when you get back. I think when you can do that, it’s always good to do it. It’s tough to do it mid-season because it’s such a requirement on time.”
As for the rules package, Gordon said he agrees with NASCAR’s continued lower downforce direction and believes it will be good for the entire sport. It was clearly beneficial for the No. 22 team as Logano posted career bests in wins (6), top fives (22), top 10s (28) and poles (6) this past season.
At Kentucky and Darlington, where a similar rules package was first used, Logano led laps and posted top-five finishes.
“The direction I don’t think is bad for us; I think it lends to some of the things we focus on and I think it lends to our driver’s talent,” Gordon said. “As we reduce downforce … you’re going to create more of a premium on driver talent, driver ability and team ability to refine the small pieces. It seems like as we go forward with this package, as we go down that road, those are the things that make the differences.”