In years past professional NASCAR shops were a flurry of activity preparing for their scheduled Daytona test dates. NASCAR arranged those. Mixed in were wind tunnel dates and whatever days one could schedule to test at Talladega. Teams were on their own with these.
They had to pick up the phone, make the reservation, arrange travel plans, and the shop had to complete the work necessary to make the test as valuable as possible.
The Alabama speedway was the closest anyone could get to duplicate a course useful for Daytona 500 preparation. If the opportunity was available to test, it was taken. However, the tracks are not interchangeable. In fact, to debunk a myth they are not the same and if a team had resources, different cars were built for each speedway.
Racing well at Daytona requires a quality prevalent at other tracks: handling. The draft is present and a strong engine is needed, but contrary to widely held beliefs that is not all. Tires wear and as the fuel load burns off, the nose-weight percentage increases and the car’s handling changes. The massive packs thin out over the course of a fuel run and the field separates. It is not a given that everyone can just hang onto the lead draft and make a winning move near the end.
Specific Daytona bodies are NOT the slickest pieces on earth. There was some downforce built into them trying to balance speed in time trials and speed in race conditions. This wasn’t always successful.
How many times have we seen cars turn quick laps qualifying and not race worth their salt? And vice-versa? Handling over the course of a fuel run is the difference. And aerodynamics affected the handling.
Talladega is a simpler animal. Everyone handles at Talladega. The speedway’s configuration provides a greater vertical load than the side loads experienced at Daytona. Talladega offers little tire wear and more aero dependence.
A body with the smallest drag possible was hung on an Alabama car. The chassis needed to accommodate the most travel it could and needed to hold it down for as long as it could.
If the body was slick and would stay down to seal off the air going underneath it, you had two out of the three pieces for a fast car. The third has nicknames of “Big Steam”, “Smoke”, and “Big Power.” Meaning a fast engine.
Most cars in the field at Talladega have all the pieces needed to run with the lead draft. It is a more wide-open race. The winner might just get in the right line at the end or hang out in the rear all day. Any strategy could work.
My season spent at Germain Racing found a special car built for Talladega only. The chassis and body were designed to do exactly what was needed at that track and wasn’t designed for any other. With help from Toyota this car was worth it to have for a single Nationwide race per season. The two times I have seen it run, it showed good strength and with the right drafting help a win was possible both times.
Building cars for the two ovals is similar but not the same. There are characteristics that cross over but one machine won’t always get the job done. Teams that have winning in their crosshairs, and in their budget, may massage pieces dedicated to each track.
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