BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT

Charlotte, N.C. — According to NASCAR Winston Cup director John Darby, there will be an adjustment to the speedway formula when the tour arrives at Talladega, Ala., to contest the Sept. 28 EA Sports 500.

Darby told TFR the change would come in the throttle response area. “We’re going to increase the plate size and also increase the spoiler so that we can still keep our control on the speeds.

“We’ll put a taller spoiler on it so we’ve still got a handle on the speeds but essentially it’s a matter of putting a little more drag on the car and a little more horsepower underneath the hood.”

The goal, Darby explained, is to keep the drag horsepower ratio the same as it was the last time the Cup cars ran at Talladega, which will keep the speeds from escalating to beyond the comfort level of the sanctioning body.

Darby adds of the change, “Thinking through it, it should develop a little bit bigger hole in the air for drafting reasons with a little more horsepower under the hood, so that if you do draft up to somebody that extra power may be enough to get you over the big wake that everybody complains about.”

Asked if NASCAR considered again working with the roof blade on the speedway package Darby replied in the negative, “They may be back some day or a different version of it.

“There are things that have changed since we took it off that may make it more adaptable for the teams,” continued Darby. “The smaller fuel cell, for example, then going back to the strongest reason for having the smaller fuel cell was letting the drivers have a break every thirty-five laps. That may be enough to get us over that hump of white-knuckle, out there for long fuel runs.”

‘04 PARTS SUBMISSION
While we had his ear TFR also quizzed Darby regarding the parts he expected for consideration for the 2004 season. The cut-off date for parts submittal was Tuesday, and Darby didn’t have everything in hand that he was expecting earlier in the day.

But no one on the manufacturer side is likely to spring any huge surprises on him so Darby had a good handle on what he was looking for, and from whom.

Of course Ford Motor Company has submitted the new 2004 Taurus for consideration. This project, which NASCAR was intimately involved in at every step of the way, should yield the Ford teams a most welcome update of the 1998-based car that’s on the track now.

In addition to the new car Darby has received a new Ford cylinder head and was expecting an intake package from Ford by end of business on Tuesday. These parts, aim to bridge the gap between the GM and Dodge offerings.

“Ford has submitted a head. I know they’re working real hard on getting an intake manifold done,” explained Darby on the Ford engine parts wish list. “The intake manifold they’re working on doesn’t really affect the Winston Cup garage much. I think it’s more for an intermediate manifold that will help the Busch and the Truck Series with the smaller carburetors especially at the superspeedways.”

Darby says that he’s expecting to see a new tail from Dodge, and that he had already received, and rejected, GM’s R99 engine package — “for at least a year”.

REMEMBER WHEN?
It seemed an all to frequent occurrence in 2002 when NASCAR would penalize one team or another for a car that didn’t meet ride height specifications in post-race inspections. You might even recall that Mark Martin’s team suffered a 25 point deduction in both driver and owner points for a coil spring that wasn’t quiet to NASCAR specification following the Nov. 3, Rockingham, N.C., event.

However, this year not a single team has been found with the formerly common violation. With this in mind TFR approached Dale Jarrett’s crew chief, Shawn Parker, for an explanation.

“You’ve got to keep up with what’s going on with the sport,” said Parker as he gave an overview of the current suspension strategies. “Which is low drag and more downforce. You’re just basically just bouncing the car off the race track.

“To achieve that, these spring manufacturers, they’re the ones competing against one another now trying to get the softest springs that will have the most deflection without collapsing,” Parker continued. “But we’ve got rules we’ve got to stay within.

“It’s just costing the car owners a lot of money to keep buying these springs because they’re competing against each other and they’re getting better and better. We’re buying springs at between $150 to $200 each every other week, or when they come out with new ones to make it better.”

So, why is it that NASCAR is not finding lowered ride heights post-race? Parker explains, “They’re making the springs where they won’t collapse and they’ll return back to static height. And a lot of it is people building the roofs higher because they know the cars going to settle a little and we don’t want to go through the hassle of getting fined or loosing points.

“Points these days are so crucial that you don’t want to lose any, you can’t lose any points.”

TWO-WAYS GOING AWAY?
As vital as a good motor or good setup is to a race car, so too is communication. With that in mind the teams have though the years tweaked and dialed-in two-way radio systems to fit the unique rigors of racing.

Don’t think a radio is an important part of the mix? Just tell that to the driver who is patting the roof or door panel as he tries to tell his crew chief whether his car is loose or tight. And the driver who doesn’t have a working radio is living in a world of chaos and that’s just if his outbound communication has failed.

The problem increases 100-fold when the driver’s radio can’t receive a radio signal because he losses not only his crew chief but also his spotter. And with the current cocoon style of driver restraint the driver’s reliance on his spotter easily becomes a safety issue.

There are currently two major suppliers for two-way radio gear in NASCAR’s top three series with Racing Radios and Racing Electronics handling the majority of installation and service requirements of the industry.

With communications vital in the racing game the issue was naturally brought up shortly after Nextel was named the series sponsor of NASCAR’s elite series for 2004. Nextel, with its Direct Connect offering, is obviously in the radio business and this reality led to questions as to whether NASCAR would require the teams to start using Nextel radios, beginning next year.

“Well, let’s see now. Currently Racing Radios provides the communications,” NASCAR Chief Operating Officer, George Pyne, hedged at Sears Point several weeks ago. “I think that will all work itself out.

Continuing Pyne added, “It’s interesting when you look – you need tires, you need fuel and you need to be able to communicate.”

When asked directly if Nextel would replace the teams’ current two-way radio systems Pyne replied, “I think you can expect [Nextel] to be a provider of communication if the technology and service is as good or better than what it is today. We’ll work through that with Racing Radios.

“Again, I expect that to be a very positive and seamless situation.”

Giving a practical indication of where team communications might head in the near future comes from a job listing for the program manager for the Nextel Motorsports program. The job description lists one of the position's responsibilities as: "Develop relationship with Nextel engineers, track operators, teams and other third parties to insure smooth transition from 2-way radios to Nextel".

Stay tuned. So to speak.

SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED
Following last weekend’s Southern 500 Greg Biffle complained that it felt as if he’d broken his ribs from the violent shaking that occurred in the Grainger Ford, after the flywheel exploded.

However, according to Roush Racing sources Biffle is just fine and will be ready to go for this weekend’s Richmond International Raceway events. Roush officials said that the report of broken ribs was taken out of context, somewhat, due to the beating that Biffle received in the last 50 laps of the event from the severe vibrations from the broken driveline.