DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Billy Scott has plenty of fond memories at Daytona International Speedway. Growing up near Tampa, roughly two hours southwest of Daytona, Scott fell in love with racing at the speedway as a child.
His most recent trip to the “World Center of Racing” added another chapter to those memories when he guided Tyler Reddick to victory in the 68th running of the Great American Race in February. The win ranks at the top of his career accolades.
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“That’s why it was special on two counts. It was the Daytona 500, but this is the place where I grew up coming as a fan in the stands many times to watch races,” Scott told NASCAR.com on Friday afternoon in a sweltering Cup Series garage.
Six months later, Scott and the other 39 crew chiefs will be learning on the fly. When the green flag waves on Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, the new superspeedway aerodynamic package will debut, featuring a rear spoiler shortened from 7 inches to 4 inches, the same height used at intermediate tracks. The shorter spoiler is intended to reduce drag, while horsepower has been reduced from 510 to 465 to compensate for the reduced downforce.
Because Friday’s single-car qualifying session provided the only on-track laps before Saturday’s race, teams vary in their expectations for the new package. Some believe it will be a welcome change while others are still waiting to see how it plays out.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t think it’s going to be as big of a change as everyone thinks,” Derrick Finley, a 30-year veteran and Ryan Preece’s crew chief, said. “We’ve raced here in the past with a lot less downforce, similar speed, similar horsepower. I don’t think it’s going to be as big of a change as you think. That’s my opinion. It could be wrong.
“When I look at the aero balance, I look at the simulation, it scares you to death. But then I take the experience side of it, and we’ve raced here a lot with very similar and less downforce, and it’s kind of a normal Daytona race.”
The opening 35-lap stage, which is less than a full fuel run, should give crew chiefs useful information on how to adjust for the remaining 125 circuits. But until the cars run three-wide for multiple rows or a driver pulls out of line to move forward, much remains unknown.
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“They are substantial changes,” Scott said. “It’s a lot of drag, a lot of horsepower, a lot of downforce off. I think the biggest thing unknown that we’re looking to learn before Talladega [Superspeedway] is how do they drive now? You can look at the numbers on paper, at least a car by itself and see that it’s a drastic change. We have to make some consideration for that, but what it’s going to do in the pack is the interesting part.”
There’s also hope that the new package will reduce fuel saving. The teams won’t fully understand how far they can stretch the tank until the first pit stop, likely at the end of the opening stage. Depending on the mileage, Finley believes there is an outside chance teams could save even more fuel and pit only at the two stage breaks.
“Right now, we don’t have a good grasp on what type of mileage we’re going to see,” Finley said. “When I look at the range from what we’re predicting, it’s anywhere from it’s going to eliminate fuel savings, or it’s going to create even more fuel savings. There are opportunities that if mileage is on the really good side that we won’t pit except for the stage breaks – but we will have to save to do that. So, we’re right back in the same situation to begin with.”
Preece will take the green flag from fourth Saturday after posting the fourth-fastest qualifying time. Reddick, who has banked the most points at drafting tracks this season, will roll off 17th.