Kurt Busch begins reinstatement process

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Zack Albert

NASCAR spokesman: There is ‘no timetable whatsoever’

Suspended driver Kurt Busch has agreed to NASCAR’s terms and conditions to pursue reinstatement last Friday, starting the process toward regaining his competition license.

NASCAR issued an indefinite suspension Feb. 20, barring Busch from all NASCAR-related activity after a Delaware family court commissioner found a "preponderance of the evidence" indicated that Busch "committed an act of domestic violence" against former girlfriend Patricia Driscoll last September at Dover International Speedway.

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NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said Monday morning that the sanctioning body consulted with an outside expert to personalize the terms and conditions that Busch will need to meet, adding that there is not a target date in place for his potential return to Sprint Cup Series competition.

"No timetable whatsoever. That’s what the experts tell us," Higdon said. "There are certain things that need to happen within a certain period of time, but there’s no timetable in terms of a return perspective. Secondly, before we put this in place when we worked with the experts on it, they were very adamant about saying the most important thing if you pursue any type of action in this area that you need to have a return-back program. That was why this was atop of our list as soon as the penalty was assessed, our next course of action was to clearly get in front of him the terms and conditions for the reinstatement of the license."

Higdon said that Busch’s path toward possible reinstatement is separate from the terms of the report filed by Kent County (Del.) Commissioner David Jones, who required that Busch "be evaluated by a licensed mental health professional" and to complete any prescribed plan of treatment.

"It’s very much tailored to each individual case," Higdon said of NASCAR’s requirements, drawing comparisons to programs it has previously created for substance abuse and diversity sensitivity issues. "Ultimately, we’ve tried to get among the best in the class to execute the program, and we let them do that externally and then let them come back to us with their recommendations."

The former Sprint Cup Series champion made two appeals Feb. 21, the day after the penalty was announced and the day before the season-opening Daytona 500, but both challenges to the ruling were denied. In both hearings, the two infractions in the NASCAR Rule Book — Section 12.1.a: Actions detrimental to stock car racing; and 12.8: Behavioral penalty — were upheld, first by a three-person National Motorsports Appeals Panel and lastly by National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss.

Regan Smith, last year’s runner-up in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, has filled in for Busch in the first two Sprint Cup events of the season as driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet. He will again pilot the car this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

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Posted on March 2, 2015 by Nascar

Sunday was first race on an intermediate track under new package

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HAMPTON, Ga. — The rules have changed, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. said the cars remain the same.

"This car is the same ol’ car, man," the Hendrick Motorsports driver said after finishing third in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"The rules changed a little bit, but (the cars) drive the same and actually qualified faster than we did last year. … It’s a good race car. The rules aren’t going to be that big of a deal."

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Sunday’s race at the 1.54-mile track was the first for teams with the new package designed to lessen horsepower, downforce and drag.

Tapered spacers, similar to those already in use in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, cut horsepower from approximately 850 to 725 and a lower differential gear (targeting 9,000 rpm) is in use.

The spoiler, which affects the amount of downforce generated on the rear of the car, has been trimmed from 8 to 6 inches, and the width of the radiator pan underneath the car is 5 inches smaller this year.

The goal is to make the cars less aero dependent and put more of the onus on the drivers.

Less overall downforce should also allow Goodyear to producer a softer tire which would wear more during the course of a green-flag run and make tire management more crucial.

"I believe that after about 15 or 20 laps we were really racing," Carl Edwards said afterward, "because the tires were worn out."

Edwards finished 12th in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He said he still believes NASCAR needs to continue taking downforce away from the cars.

"We’ve got way too much speed in the center of the corner," he said. "There’s not a lot of change, not a lot of opportunity to go down in the corner and over-drive it or under-drive it because you’ve got such high corner speeds.

"It’s no problem to drive, the problem is it’s too easy. We need to cut those spoilers down and get rid of those splitters."

AMS has always been a track that produced high speeds and plenty of tire wear and this year’s Sprint Cup race proved to be no different in spite of the rules changes. Joey Logano’s winning speed en route to winning the Coors Light Pole Award was 194.683 mph, faster than Aric Almirola’s leading 191.278 mph set in the first round of qualifying here last fall.

On Monday NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said it is "still really early in the process" with the package, but noted the charge of eventual race winner Jimmie Johnson, who started 37th, through the field as well as several others in Sunday’s race.

"I think (we saw) some really solid finishes, so we liked what we saw. Certainly some learnings that we’ll take out of Atlanta. We’ll apply those to the upcoming test in Charlotte and continue to look at ways we can continuously improve the racing."

Sprint Cup Series teams travel to Las Vegas, another 1.5-mile venue, for this week’s race. A two-day test session is currently scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, March 10-11, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Teams participating in the Goodyear portion of the test on Tuesday, March 10, include one each from Hendrick Motorsports, Furniture Row Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports and BK Racing.

At other 1.5-mile tracks such as Las Vegas, Charlotte and Texas, tire fall-off won’t be as pronounced, race-winning crew chief Chad Knaus said.

"But I do think this type of package will help Jimmie," he said. "I think it will be better for him with the lack of grip. When we go to some of these other race tracks, it’s going to be a different format."

One race isn’t enough to determine the fault or value of the package, Edwards said, "but I really believe if NASCAR keeps going in that direction, taking downforce away, the racing is going to get better and better."

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