NASCAR is shortening the spoiler on its Cup cars and reducing their horsepower for the regular season finale at Daytona in an effort to reduce drag and provide more opportunities for passing without competitors having to rely on fuel-saving strategies to move through the field.
The spoiler for the August 29 Coke Zero Sugar 400 is being cut from 7 inches to 4 inches and the horsepower reduced from 510 to 465. The smaller spoiler is used on NASCAR’s intermediate tracks as are the wide splitter stuffers which are part of the new superspeedway package. NASCAR Event Management President John Probst said that with the loss of downforce on the car’s rear due to the spoiler reduction, the front wide splitter stuffers balance the car aerodynamically, preventing it from being “super loose.”
Probst said the new package opens the bubble behind a car “just a little bit” so the cars can’t run nose-to-tail to where there’s no room for a car on the outside to move down or a car on the inside to move up.
“The perceived problem that we had is that with the 7-inch spoiler, we had a lot of drag on the car, so it punched a big hole,” Probst explained. “When you get into the race and you have all the cars around you, you lose a good percentage of the drag. You keep almost all of your engine horsepower.
“But when you’re a car behind another car in the pack and you pull out to pass… you immediately get all of that drag back because your spoiler’s big. So that’s why the smaller spoilers.”
“The perceived problem that we had is that with the 7-inch spoiler, we had a lot of drag on the car, so it punched a big hole.”
The drop gear was resized so when a car pulls out to pass, the engine won’t lose power, and gain drag.
Probst said several simulations were run with various configurations, including testing everything from a 2-inch spoiler to a 7-inch spoiler and horsepower from 420 to 520. They also did several simulations on passing maneuvers with each one of those rounds taking 10 days to solve, Probst said. NASCAR settled on the changes announced Wednesday after consulting Hendrick Motorsports Competition Vice President Chad Knaus, Team Penske Competition Director Travis Geilser, Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director Wally Brown, and JGR driver and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin. It’s estimated that single-car speeds will be 2 to 3 mph faster, but maximum pack speeds are expected to remain the same. The simulation also indicated completion of a pass with a 5-mph run was more likely with the new package, which Probst said they intended to use at the October 25 Talladega race.
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“The changes we made to the spoiler, the engine and the drop gear, those were the changes that gave us a pretty substantial change to the package with low enough risk that it didn’t warrant creating another test going into that event,” Probst said.
Probst believes the package “should mitigate” the fuel mileage racing that has drawn complaints from fans, but it won’t eliminate it.
“The fuel mileage thing is a tool in their toolbox now that I don’t think you’ll ever get rid of,” Probst commented.
Probst said the teams won’t receive any practice time at Daytona with the new package.
“I think some of this is kind of threading that needle between competition and entertainment, and I think that one of the things that draws our fans is the unknown,” Probst said. “I think it’ll be fantastic for the fans to watch the teams figure this out in real time in front of them versus in their computers, in wind tunnels and things of that nature.”
Probst noted the rules package for EchoPark Speedway at Atlanta won’t change to this new one because last weekend’s event was “fantastic racing” … “and the last thing I’d want to do is change any of that.”
Probst said there would be a test in January 2027, but its location had yet to be finalized. He said a test was penciled in on NASCAR’s calendar for Daytona.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.