Full Throttle

During last years Daytona Speedweeks Jeff Burton sat on the pole for the 500 with a speed of 189.151 mph (that’s 304.343 kph for the new on the scene Juan Pablo fans).

As testing has wound down speeds this year have generally hovered around the 184-186 mph mark with the fastest so far being Paul Menard in a DEI Chevy posting the months quickest time, 187.090 mph.

Except: It wasn’t the quickest time of the month. That honor went to “The Brick.” You know the thing that was designed (a process started nearly 6 years ago) to slow speeds, after making things safer of course.

“The Brick” piloted by Kurt Busch timed in at a very quick 191.188 mph in a Penske Racing Dodge Avenger. Busch the elder was so pleased with its performance he has coined a new name for “The Brick:”

“I’ve nicknamed it CORN, the Car Of Right Now,” he said. “We’ve got our car of tomorrow and we’ve got our car of right now, so we’ll be busy today.”

Wonder if the acronym CORN was contained in a NASCAR memo somewhere? Or a Penske directive from the upper echelon? Regardless, it’s “cute” and quotable which surely pleases HWSBO.

You have to admit a car designed with a secondary mission of slowing speeds didn’t meet the design criteria. Kurt’s “CORN” time is 4 mph quicker than Menard’s time and 2 mph over last years pole speed.

Of special note is Kurt’s time was a single car run. Surrounded by other “CORN’s” that speed will increase.

So Busch is pleased, Penske is most assuredly pleased and so is Series Director John Darby, although he says NASCAR is still looking at restrictor plate sizes and gear ratios for the “CORN.”

From my perspective I would think having another look would be in order. By all means take another look at plate sizes - remember they already run a plate smaller than the current one - but keep history in mind.

In nearly two decades of restrictor plate racing the most heard complaint from drivers is the lack of throttle response a plate motor provides. How will the “CORN,” or CoT if you prefer, change that?

The Dinosaur Contingent (fans of the sport longer than 20 years) remember the draft and the late and much lamented Slingshot Passing Maneuver (SPM) The technique made Dale Sr. and many others Daytona/Talladega heros.

SPM worked for two critical reasons. One was the draft itself. At one time, in a generation prior to template racer cars, a driver with his nose tucked under the tail of a competitor could lift off the throttle slightly and still maintain position due to the vacuum created between the two.

Secondly, and most important was pure unadulterated horsepower, or put another way throttle response. Swinging out from behind the lead car you run into a brickwall of air. Air that can only do one thing without the help of a lead car, slow you down perceptibly and quickly.

Without an excess of power the brickwall wins, and you lose.

Without a restrictor plate in a car the brickwall loses and the driver stands a much better than even chance of completing the pass, without a long line of “helpers” on his tail, and charging to the win on the last lap.

How will “CORN” change that with a smaller plate than those in use now that provides less horsepower and less torque? Fact is, it won’t and this is yet another example of “the more things change, the more they remain the same.”

“CORN” won’t be a bit of improvement in the draft, there will be no Slingshot Passes as in days of yore and the Big One is just around the corner as it always has been.

HWSBO, Brett Bodine, call your offices. You and NASCAR have a problem.

NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Brian France, Sports, Penske Racing, Kurt Busch, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle