Drivers: Softer bumpers may not stop bump draft
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
April 26, 2006
01:00 PM EDT (17:00 GMT)
The issue of bump-drafting at Daytona and Talladega has been slowly building for years, and there are few topics in the garage that evoke more response from drivers.
Almost every driver in the Nextel Cup garage agrees that the issue is getting out of control, but not all are convinced that a softer bumper will be the answer at Talladega this weekend.
"To be quite honest, I don't really think they've done anything," Jeff Burton said. "If you really look at the new front bumpers that will be in the cars, they are really strong.
"I don't think we've done anything but cause a lot of work without accomplishing anything. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but when I look at it, I see an extremely strong front bumper."
The issue became heated at Talladega last spring, with drivers bump-drafting all over the track, even though NASCAR has warned them in the pre-race drivers meeting to limit the practice to the back straightaway.
The issue has continued unabated for the last year, and in response, NASCAR issued a rule change for a less-rigid bumper configuration for this weekend's Aaron's 499.
Kevin Harvick, winner last weekend at Phoenix, agrees that the change is minimal.
"All in all, the bumpers really aren't that much different," Harvick said. "It is [detailed] out what it can be and we didn't really have to change hardly anything on the front of our cars."
Jeff Gordon, winner of two of the last four races at Talladega, says the softer bumpers will help considerably.
"It is going to take a lot of the bump drafting out of play," Gordon said. "I still think there is going to be some happening, especially late in the race.
"I think it will make guys have to think a little bit more about how they pass. That goes back to the type of drafting I learned early on when we used the air to push the cars around instead of the bumpers."
Kurt Busch says the new bumpers will bring back the possibility of pushing in the radiator and overheating the car.
"When I was a rookie [2001], that's when I noticed it," Busch said. "We didn't have those big bumpers on the front end, and we had to come in and take tape off the radiator grille because they were overheating."
"This will go back to some of that. If you bump draft too hard, you risk the chance of overheating."
According to Burton, race day will determine whether the new bumpers have fixed the problem.
"It's almost a vacation for the drivers until Sunday [because of the impound procedure]. You go out and practice, but there's not a lot you can do once you get to the track," Burton said. "Once Sunday comes though, business picks up and it's a little bit of a crapshoot to miss the big wreck.
"There's going to be a big wreck, you just have to hope you miss it."
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