Will The 2013 NASCAR Bodies Create More (Old) Issues Than They're Solving?

NASCAR has been testing the new body templates that will be used in the 2013 season.  They've been working hard with Goodyear to get good tires under the new bodies as well, as they test at different tracks.  (You'd be surprised at the science that goes behind the tires under your car.)

It looks like they're taking some weight out of the car and looking to once again create a dependency on the mechanical grip between the machine and the track surface.  To me, this looks like one of the new factors with the new car will be how the cars won't be as aero dependent as they are now.  In other words, I'm thinking motor power, car balance and driver wheel skills.

OH!  And the new cars are going to start looking like their street production counterparts once again.  This last point is what got me thinking.

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What Am I Thinking?

Glad you asked!

I'm not sure if a lighter car will create a swing towards a dependency on a mechanically balanced car.  If something is moving at 100+ miles an hour, it will still be a victim of the fluid dynamics of the air it's shoving out of it's way, period.  (Yes... the air you breathe, is technically, a fluid.  Creepy, isn't it?)

And being lighter, I have some (uneducated) concern regarding the ability of a lighter car being able to get airborne when it gets out of shape on the track at 150+ miles per hour.  Maybe it's not going to be that much lighter.  I'm not sure.

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Battle of the Noses Again?

Aside from that, the other aspect I'm concerned about will be the new looks of the new 2013 NASCAR cars.  If they are going to indeed, start replicating how the different models look from the manufacturers, I have to wonder if this start up the "They have better aero noses than we do" arguments all over again?

Any long-time fan of the sport will remember the day when the cars did look like their street versions.  And it wasn't that long ago.

But during that era, (I think this was at least two car body versions ago), the big angst was how the other make had better aerodynamic advantage over the other one because of their nose design.  Every few weeks someone was grumbling about the other makes and every now and then, NASCAR had to step in and adjust how the front ends were shaped.

It seemed to be an ongoing mode of constant adjustment as NASCAR tried to get the aero balances just right between manufacturers.

And that, is the concern I have in the back of my head for the new NASCAR body types for the 2013 season.

But hey, at least it will look cool!  And sometimes that's half the fun...  barring too many sponsor stickers, etc..