Pick your winner for Saturday’s Quaker State 400
Tire changer David Mayo: ‘Really relieved when I saw he was aware’
RELATED: Dillon discusses how he is feeling | See the wreck | Junior’s chilling reaction
The normal feeling of elation a pit crew member gets while watching his car take the checkered flag never came for members of the No. 88 team as they watched Dale Earnhardt Jr. win the Coke Zero 400 early Monday morning.
The usual joy was replaced by much starker emotions once Austin Dillon‘s No. 3 Chevrolet went airborne and into the catchfence in the midst of a huge crash — worry … shock … fear.
Then even those emotions were replaced by a greater urgency — the want and need to help.
The men on Earnhardt Jr.’s team — Nick Covey, Rowdy Harrell, Dustin Lineback, David Mayo, Joe Slingerland and Matt Tyrrell — were among the first responders to check on Dillon, who lay in a battered, busted, upside-down car without anybody at the track knowing if he was OK. Or not. They sprinted toward the remnants of the vehicle, as did folks from Casey Mears‘ No. 13 crew, with front tire changer David Mayo getting to the car first and peering inside.
RELATED: Learn more about the 88 pit crew
"When I got to the car, I immediately looked in. Right away, I saw his eyes, I saw he was wide awake," Mayo recounted to NASCAR.com days after the frightening wreck. "It looked like he was dazed a little bit, but he was aware of what was going on. I kind of talked to him a little bit; my crew chief (Greg Ives) was talking to me over the radio, telling me what I should ask him and that if he was all right.
"I definitely was really relieved when I saw he was aware. That was probably one of the nastiest wrecks I’ve ever seen. Seeing him moving around inside the cockpit, it makes you feel relieved right away. The safety NASCAR has done with the way guys build the car now, it’s huge."
That wreck and aftermath has become the talking point of the race, which started after 11:30 p.m. ET due to rain and ended at approximately 2:42 a.m. with the 12-time Most Popular Driver taking the checkered flag at perhaps the most historic track on the circuit.
But much like Junior, who immediately radioed to ask if Dillon and the fans were OK and then had a muted celebration in Victory Lane, his crew also was thankful there were no more injuries than there were in winning for the second time in 2015.
"After we found out everybody was all right, we got back to our pit box and had a little celebration, but not a normal celebration," rear tire changer Joe Slingerland said. "We kind of hugged each other and said ‘good job.’ We felt like that was the only kind of celebration we needed; yeah, we were able to win the race, but what it all comes back to is, we were all thankful everybody was safe and no one got hurt badly."
RELATED: Ives breaks down moments after crash
Their collective quick thinking and empathy has garnered kudos from a wide spectrum of people.
A fan who was on pit road watching the end of the race near the No. 88 pit box and witnessed the crew’s actions wrote a letter to Hendrick Motorsports President Marshall Carlson, complimenting their courage.
In the social media world, fans, fellow crew members and drivers alike all commended both crews for their collective actions.
Ty Dillon, Austin’s brother, called them heroes.
I could never thank those crew men enough who ran out right away to check on my brother you guys are my hero hope everyone involved is ok.
— Ty Dillon (@tydillon) July 6, 2015
"I think we’ve heard a little bit of that talk," Slingerland said. "I mean, a hero is maybe kind a stretch. We were just kind of doing what I think any human being would do in that situation. When you see something like that happen and someone else might be hurt, you put a little risk upon yourself to make sure he’s OK. I think most human beings are kind of instinctual enough to do that."
As most race fans have pointed out, helping a fellow competitor is just what racers do; a clear code that remains unwavering, even if it’s not written down.
That much was made clear when Mayo was asked if he knows or has a relationship with Austin Dillon, the man he sprinted toward to help at 3 in the morning.
"No sir," Mayo said. "I’ve never talked to him once."
RELATED: NSCS ready to race in the rain
Most NASCAR drivers cringe at the sight of rain in the forecast. Not this weekend. At least not Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The No. 88 driver wants to put on the Goodyear radials and fire up those windshield wipers at Watkins Glen.
“There’s a lttle rain in the forecast for Watkins Glen. I know it’s early, but that would be crazy,” he said on the Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio after returning from Sunday’s race at Pocono. “I’ve never raced in the rain and a lot of guys haven’t and I’m excited about that opportunity to do that. That would be fun.”
Several current Sprint Cup drivers have run a bit in the rain. The rain tires came out for the 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Steve Wallace all finished in the top 10 of that race, won by road course specialist Ron Fellows, who was driving for JR Motorsports.
“I’ve run the 24 hours of Daytona in the rain but never drove a big, heavy stock car around a track in the rain. I’m anxious to do that, to be honest with you.”
Junior raced in that rainy 24 Hours of Daytona in 2004 on a team with Tony Stewart and Andy Wallace, a British racer, piloting a Chevrolet-powered Crawford.
After that event he said, “I love it. I was looking forward to driving in the rain. I spun it out there once, but I held my position, and that’s all I care about.”
The Wallace-Stewart-Earnhardt Jr. team finished fifth.
Dillon on ‘Today’ show: sore but recovering well, upset by Ty’s dismay
RELATED: Austin Dillon in his own words about crash
Insisting he didn’t have so much as a headache 24 hours after a heart-stoppingly wild crash on the last lap of Monday morning’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Austin Dillon spoke with the national media Tuesday morning having had a day to collect his thoughts and count his blessings.
Dillon said he’s watched multiple video views and replays of his crash since, ”I took a shower, cooled down and I was like, ‘all right, here we go, let’s start watching ’em.’ ”
His No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy was hit during a final lap green-white-checkered final run to the checkered flag and launched upward over two lines of cars and into the catch-fence in front of the frontstretch grandstands. After hitting the fencing, Dillon’s car repelled back on track upside down and was hit again by the spinning car of Brad Keselowski. Dillon’s car finally came to rest on a paved portion of the infield track between the end of pit road and the frontstretch; its still-smoking engine landed 20 yards or so away from the crumpled car.
Crew members left their pit road positions and ran over to Dillon’s car to offer aid. After a few gut-wrenching minutes, Dillon emerged and walked away on his own, stopping to wave to the crowd with both hands overhead.
The Speedway evaluated 14 fans in the grandstands for possible injury. Eight of them declined any treatment, one was transported to a local hospital in good condition.
"I watched a lot of videos and just watching it in live speed, it is violent looking,” Dillon said. "It’s a wicked crash."
RELATED: Dillon Shaken, but OK after massive wreck
The cord connecting Dillon’s radio to his team for communication ripped off during the various impacts. He could hear his team — including his grandfather, the team owner Richard Childress — ask repeatedly if he was OK but he had no way to communicate back and reassure them.
"I think it was way worse for everyone at home watching and for him [Childress] watching it,” Dillon said. "The worst part for family members is you want to let them know you’re OK after a wreck through the radio. I could hear them, but they couldn’t hear me so it was one of those deals where I knew they were upset and I felt bad because I couldn’t get to them.
"I was saying ‘I’m OK, I’m OK,’ but it wasn’t going through and I could hear in their voice how scared they were. Luckily, the guys had gotten there fast enough and gave everyone the thumbs up to let them know that I was fine.”
Perhaps most upsetting to Dillon was the eventual reaction from his younger brother, 23-year-old XFINITY Series racer Ty Dillon, who was home watching the race on television.
"When I talked to my brother, it was another level because he was upset and hearing him on the phone upset, it was like, ‘Man, I’m going to have to watch this,’ because he’s a tough guy and to hear him be upset about it and worried about me, it was like, ‘All right I need to look at this wreck.’ I did and you can see where a guy watching it from home not knowing how I was and the pit crew kind of running out to the car, it was pretty dramatic right there for 38 seconds or so.
"But I feel like it was the safety that made it possible for me to be here today.”
Dillon, who finished seventh in the race, said except for a sore tailbone and groin, he was remarkably fine considering the seriousness of the accident. He said he immediately thanked the team shop guys for "keeping all the bolts tight" on the car and said the carbon fiber seat and his own fitness level made a big difference in the positive outcome.
He also credited the safety improvements both NASCAR and the various tracks have made since the last driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing entry, Dale Earnhardt, was tragically killed racing on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
"The way I look at it is I think from what I’ve learned from those crashes, for instance, what happened to Dale, our sport has taken a whole turn of 360 degrees and it’s all about safety and we’ve been able to learn from our mistakes in the past and that’s what you have to do,” Dillon said.
"You have to learn from history and develop and innovate new ways to make our sport safe. And technology has come a long way."
RELATED: France: ‘Working to make racing safer and better’
But, Dillon said he expects more to be learned from his incident, too, with more immediate remedies if necessary.
"The drivers themselves would like to see things done to make our cars stay on the ground,” Dillon said. "No one wants to see them put in the air and everybody wants to still walk away from wrecks like that.
"The good part is our cars are safe. It did its job. But I think we can keep things on the ground moving forward.
"For me, I think we can make subtle adjustments to improve by Talladega (the next restrictor plate race, Oct. 25). I’m not sure what they’ll be. I don’t know if we have to come back with the same package, but I’ll be ready for it. I think all the drivers will be, too."
Dillon started his day on Tuesday as a guest on NBC’s "Today" show, taking tough questions from host Matt Lauer about the dangers of restrictor plate racing. But the 25-year-old handled the line of questioning well.
Lauer reminded him that veterans such as Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon were adamantly critical of the situation, voicing strong opinions after the race.
RELATED: Drivers react to wreck | Dale Jr: ‘It scared the (expletive) out of me’
"I have to make my own opinion, first of all,” Dillon said. "I have a lot of respect for NASCAR and the drivers. Going through something like that, there’s other drivers that have gone through wrecks similar.
"This is probably one of the most violent ones, obviously, and I feel like my opinion is I’m here today, talking to you guys and right now my groin is a little sore and my tailbone is a little sore but other than that, my head and my neck, which is the most important to me, I have no headache.
"I think it’s pretty impressive to see how far we’ve come after learning from other wrecks. … the roof — like like the cage itself — held up well. The catchfence did its job. It kicked things back into the track where we needed to.
"A lot of things have innovated to make everybody still safe today. Luckily the fans are all in good shape. We’re obviously going to probably enhance more safety after this and we’ll keep developing as our sport grows.”
Asked several times in different ways if — after this experience — he was still confident and comfortable suiting up for another round of speedway racing, Dillon consistently responded that he was.
"For me, I try and put it in the back of my head, forget about it and move on,” Dillon said. "You have to be able to move on and trust in the safety equipment. Like I said, if I can take a lick like that and feel as good as I do right now, I feel like I can do anything.
"You feel like Superman."
NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee to leave SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
NASCAR Hall of Famer Buddy Baker announced Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he has lung cancer and will be leaving the network’s "Late Shift" and "Tradin’ Paint" shows.
Last November, Baker was treated for what he thought was a rotator cuff injury. During an operation on his shoulder, doctors realized the true cause of his pain.
"As they started to really get inside me, the problems, the pain was getting worse and worse and worse," Baker said. "They went, ‘Wait a minute, what is this on the righthand side here?’ And they said, ‘My God, it’s a huge tumor’ in my lung."
Known as the "Gentle Giant" at 6 feet, 6 inches tall, the towering figure on and off the track joined co-host Brad Gillie to deliver the news to his listeners and express his gratitude for their love and support.
"Basically I started then realizing what a blessed person I’ve been as far as being able to be with my family, which is the racing family," Baker said. "Watch three or four generations of drivers and compete against at least three of them myself. And the great friends I’ve made through Sirius."
Blessed with a gift for storytelling, Baker spun a tale about the conversation he had with his doctor about the prognosis for his inoperable cancer.
"But there comes a time, just like in my racing career, there comes a time when you talk to the doctor, and you say, ‘What are my chances?’"
"There’s a dead silence."
"’How long?’"
"’Well, we don’t own the hotel so we don’t know when you check out, but it’s something that we cannot fix.’"
The 74-year-old broadcaster said he couldn’t continue to produce the high quality of work required of a SiriusXM NASCAR Radio host — using a analogy coined by a NASCAR Hall of Famer — but he’ll continue to live his life away from the microphone and be a fan of the network.
"What you hear right now, it’s kind of like Bobby Allison said one day," Baker said. "He started out as an 8 cylinder, and I’m a 6 cylinder now. Well, I’m about a 4 1/2 cylinder. By golly, what I have left works."
Son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker, "Leadfoot" was at his best in the big races. Of his 19 wins in 699 starts in NASCAR’s premier series from 1959 to 1992, he captured the 1970 Southern 500, 1980 Daytona 500 and back-to-back World 600s in 1972 and 1973. He became the first driver to break the 200 mph barrier on a closed course while testing at Talladega Superspeedway in 1970. In 1998, NASCAR recognized Baker as one of the sport’s 50 greatest drivers.
The 1972 World 600 win came during a two-year stint where he drove for Petty Enterprises. The Petty family issued a statement on Wednesday that read: "Buddy has been a part of the NASCAR family for a long, long time, and he’s also a part of our family. He raced with us, shared his stories with us and became our friend. Our thoughts and prayers are with Buddy and his family at this time."
Moving from the cockpit to the TV booth, Baker served as a commentator for The Nashville Network and CBS before joining SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. He compared leaving broadcasting to retiring from racing.
"I think I retired five different times," Baker said. "Why? Because you build this trust and love for a sport that I don’t care what anybody tells you, there is no other form of auto racing in the world that can entertain and bring the stars that we have in our sport.
"And to have a long career like I’ve had, do not shed a tear. Give a smile when you say my name."
With profound sadness, we announce Buddy Baker is stepping away from @SIRIUSXM as he bravely battles lung cancer. pic.twitter.com/CyA7iDR4vz
— SiriusXM NASCAR (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 8, 2015
R&D Center poring over data that came through in Daytona wreck
MORE: Dillon discusses how he is feeling | Exclusive video of wreck, 88 crew reacts
On Tuesday, the sports world was still buzzing about Austin Dillon‘s spectacular wreck on the last lap of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Meanwhile, NASCAR was busy investigating the incident for potential safety improvements.
NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s "The Morning Drive" and explained some of the processes that were taking place in reaction to the wreck, which Dillon walked away from after waving to fans to signal that he was OK.
O’Donnell said Dillon’s car and all the parts were at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, where they were under investigation.
"The incident data recorder that we have will give us over 10,000 samples per second of that incident, and that goes for 20 seconds," O’Donnell said. "(The people at R&D) are going to be poring over that data, looking at what improvements we can make from the car. Two things you never want to see, how did it get up in the air and how did it get into the fence. Both of those we need to work on, and we are doing that."
O’Donnell said NASCAR also was concerned with the debris that entered the grandstand. Thirteen spectators were seen at the track after the accident. Eight declined treatment, four were treated at the track and one spectator was taken to a nearby hospital, treated and later released.
"And the second piece (of the investigation) is what can we do from a technology standpoint to keep any debris from going into the grandstand," O’Donnell said. "We know this is an inherently dangerous sport, but the fans go there to be entertained. So what we can do to lead in this area and come up with some new technology that will benefit the sport and especially the race track."
O’Donnell also was asked whether NASCAR planned any penalties for the crew members who rushed onto the track and went to check on Dillon.
"Nobody is going to be penalized," O’Donnell said. "We took some hard cards, and the reason for that is we want to have some conversations with those folks. Listen, we all applaud everybody who wants to run to a scene and help out. That’s something that I think is really cool about our industry in terms of people caring about their fellow athletes.
"We just want to talk about the safety aspect of it. We have got to dispatch our safety equipment; those folks are experts and to be able to get to Austin as quickly as possible, assess the scene. Any second we can’t do that because the car might be surrounded is a challenge."
O’Donnell addressed a couple of other topics during the radio show.
On what went into the decision to run the race Sunday night instead of Monday, O’Donnell said:
"I know Brian (France) said it, 10:45-to-11:15 we thought we’d back with green flag racing. We missed that a little bit. Definitely started a little later than we had hoped or wanted, but when you looked in the stands and how many people remained for the race, big night for NBC, folks had been there for a long, long time, we thought it was in our best interest, knowing it was a work day the next day, to try to get that in if there was any way possible."
And finally on whether the Coke Zero 400 would ever go back to being a daytime event:
"I don’t think so, the sport is so big now and there are so many partners that are involved. I think that worked for a time, and that was neat. I’ve lived in Florida for a long time and the showers are usually one hour and out of here. (The weather) was a bit unusual Sunday night. That’s a huge opportunity for us, for the fans who come, for our television partners, it was a big moment for the sport to be able to race on Sunday night. We have to take those opportunities when we can if we want to continue to grow the sport."
Keep tabs on this weekend’s national series activity
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series all head to Kentucky Speedway this week. Here’s more info on how you can follow along all weekend.
RACES
Sprint Cup Series: Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts (Saturday, July 11, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM)
XFINITY Series: Kentucky XFINITY Series 30 (Friday, July 10, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, MRN, SiriusXM)
Camping World Truck Series: UNOH 225 (Thursday, July 9, 7:30 p.m. FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM)
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Click here for on-track times, press conferences, leaderboards and GarageCam.
RACE DAY
• NSCS leaderboard
• NXS leaderboard
• NCWTS leaderboard
• NSCS Lap-by-Lap
• NXS Lap-by-Lap
• NCWTS Lap-by-Lap
• NSCS live standings
PRODUCTS
• RaceBuddy: Through the remainder of the season, NASCAR RaceBuddy will feature two (2) alternate live action camera angles, along with up to six (6) in-car cameras with different driver selections for each Sprint Cup race and four (4) for XFINITY races.
• RaceView: Watch virtual video of cars on track and listen to the scanner.
• RaceView Mobile: On your phone? Try RaceView here.
• Scanner: In-car audio only.
• Mobile Apps: Follow the leaderboards live from your device.
NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA
Web stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
Mobile app: iOS/Android
NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs will provide racing fans with unparalleled interactive digital access to every NASCAR Sprint Cup series race, including exclusive camera angles, custom diver information, and insider track information.
• Multi-view options that bring fans inside the race, combining NBC Sports Group’s race simulcast and alternative camera angles, ranging from in-car views to various key track locations. For the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on July 11, one specialty camera will offer an innovative speed shot from Turn 4, capturing the cars as they speed by.
• Dedicated full-view, on-board alternate cameras.
• Additional features on the desktop/laptop experience, bringing fans comprehensive race-day information to their fingertips, including:
• Driver updates, cup standings, and biographies
• Track infographics with key facts and history
NBC Sports Live Extra will stream NASCAR coverage on NBC and NBCSN via "TV Everywhere", giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store and Apple TV. For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra.
FOX SPORTS GO
The Camping World Truck Series UNOH 225 will be available through FOX Sports GO; which is an online and mobile streaming product that allows subscribers of participating TV providers to watch live sports and shows from FOX, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Deportes. FOX Sports GO is currently available for download on iTunes for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices or can be accessed online at FOXSportsGO.com. The app is also available via Google Play, Kindle Fire and from the Windows Store.
Access to programming in FOX Sports GO requires a pay TV subscription of FOX Sports 1 with a participating TV provider. Login credentials are the same username and password used to access online accounts with your TV provider.
FANTASY
• NASCAR Fantasy Live: Set your lineups, check your progress
• Streak to the Finish: Play in all three national series
LIVE INTERVIEWS
PressPass: Watch exclusive post-race interviews.
Stay tuned to NASCAR.com throughout the weekend for the latest news.
Cars will feature yellow windshield header, spoiler, valance and logo
BUY: Chase die-cast cars
Teams who make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will sport a special paint scheme for the second consecutive season. The teams provided feedback after the inaugural season with the new look and NASCAR has made adjustments based on those suggestions.
Along with a Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup logo and rounds (Challenger, Contender, Eliminator or Championship), taking the place of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series logo and NASCAR racecar decal, cars eligible for NASCAR’s playoffs will be highlighted in Chase yellow.
The windshield header, front valance and — new for 2015 — rear spoiler of each of the cars will carry the color. In 2014, the roof number was Sprint yellow as well, but the teams will keep their regular paint scheme atop their cars.
Chase-eligible drivers also will receive a unique Winner decal for each win they accumulate during the Chase rounds.
RELATED: Chase Grid
Through the first 16 races of the season, 10 drivers have all but clinched spots in the 10-race championship battle. In Chase Grid order, those drivers are six-time champion Jimmie Johnson, reigning champion Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2004 champion Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., 2012 champion Brad Keselowski, 2003 champion Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards.
BUY: Chicagoland tickets
The first race of The Chase and the first chance to see the special schemes will be at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 20 (3 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, MRN, SiriusXM).
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Darlington, Indianapolis, Michigan, Richmond join Kentucky in seeing changes
RELATED: Tech Talk: Lots to be learned at Kentucky
A low downforce rules package similar to that scheduled for use by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams this weekend at Kentucky Speedway will be run in September at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, according to Steve O’Donnell, Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer for the sanctioning body.
In addition, teams will compete with a higher drag rules package at both Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this month as well as Michigan International Speedway in August.
This weekend’s Kentucky aero package features a shorter spoiler (reduced from 6 inches to 3-1/2 inches) and a splitter extension panel (radiator pan) reduction from 38 inches to 25 inches. The splitter will have 1-3/4 inches less overhang that what has previously been used this season.
Combined, the aero changes are expected to lessen the amount of downforce on the cars by approximately 1,000 pounds.
Teams have a four-hour extended practice scheduled for Wednesday at Kentucky to acclimate themselves to the new package.
"The ideal package for us is matching the tire with lower downforce, and when we looked at the schedule, the most ideal venue for that was Darlington, so we feel like we have the lead time for Goodyear to come in and build that specific tire, so that’s why we moved forward on the Darlington package," O’Donnell said.
While the Darlington setup will be similar to that slated for this weekend’s Quaker State 400, there are differences. The spoiler will be 3-1/2 (instead of 3 inches) inches and the splitter will feature a 1/4-inch leading edge. There is no change in the size of the splitter extension panel (25 inches).
Although the tires used this weekend at Kentucky were not tested at the 1.5-mile track with the lower downforce platform during an April tire test, Goodyear officials were able to determine a tire for the Darlington package during a one-day test last week with drivers Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing), Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske).
For Indy and Michigan, the aero package will feature a 9-inch spoiler and 1-inch wicker bill; a rear fascia extension panel similar to that currently used for superspeedway events; a 2-inch leading edge on the splitter; and a 43-inch splitter extension panel.
Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon set the track qualifying record at Michigan last year with a lap of 206.558 mph. The high drag package scheduled for use is expected to slow speeds by nearly 10 mph.
"You’ll see some significant mile‑per‑hour differences," O’Donnell said. "That’ll change depending on single-car (runs) and the draft, but I think we’re looking at over 200 (mph) before and kind of the 191 range that we’d be looking at now."
Gordon was asked about high-drag changes for this past weekend while at Daytona International Speedway.
"I think it is obvious to all of us that (Indy) is one of the hardest places we have to pass," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said.
"I think we are all in favor of trying a low downforce package and we want to try the opposite of that; I think Indy and Michigan are good tracks to try that out. We will just have to see what happens. …
"If we can get the speeds right, then what it is going to do is create a really massive hole in the air for you to draft up to down the straightaway. Those are long straightaways at both of those tracks. The question is still what is going to happen when you are behind another car through a corner.
"The magic is there, we just have to figure out how to pull it off."
Indy is a 2.5-mile track while MIS is a 2-mile venue.
O’Donnell said additional track time would be added to the race-weekend schedule at those venues affected by the rules changes.
"There won’t be earlier test dates (at the individual tracks)," he said. "It’ll be built into the race weekend like Kentucky. … Michigan you can see us add an hour, hour and a half practice time. Same thing around Indy."
There are no scheduled aero changes for the upcoming race at Richmond International Raceway, the final race before the start of this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, however Goodyear will not return with a multi-zone tread compound tire that had been used there recently.
"I think all of this shows that we remain committed to putting the best racing on in the world, and each of these, including Kentucky this weekend, I think shows everybody that we’ve got several components that make up a rules package each week, and they can certainly be adjusted, and we will do that if we can do something that we believe will improve the racing for the fans at each track," O’Donnell said.
The changes are not currently scheduled for use at any tracks hosting Chase races.