NASCAR announced prior to the trip to Las Vegas that there will be a new package implemented at short tracks and road courses. Joey Logano has now responded by calling it a big step in the right direction.
Logano voiced his opinion of the move during a media session prior to Cup Series practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He explained that the 30 percent reduction in downforce won’t completely fix the issues that were prevalent at Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway, but it will put drivers in a position to make mistakes.
“For the drivers, for sure, way more fun,” Logano said during a media session. “You’re gonna be off the gas more, which [this] direction is good for racing, especially for short tracks. You know, you’ll be sliding around and it’s gonna make the track wider because cars will handle worse.
“So that, to me, it’s all good for racing. You don’t want a car that’s stuck to the race track, right? You’re not looking for that, right? You look at other forms of racing where their cars are just stuck to the race track, the racing is not that great, right? You want the cars to slide around and drivers making mistakes.”
Drivers Could Recover From Mistakes at Short Tracks
GettyJoey Logano waves to fans at Daytona International Speedway.
One of the main issues that several drivers pointed out during the 2022 Cup Series season is that it was hard to make passes at short tracks. Their peers could miss a corner, downshift, and drive away without losing any positions.
This issue will still be prevalent to a point. There will be some drivers that can still mess up a corner but keep their position in the running order. However, Logano expressed the opinion that there will still be more opportunities to make passes as the racing will become more competitive overall.
“You can [recover from missing a corner], but it’s gonna be easier to make mistakes,” Logano continued. “Right? And it’ll be more fall-off because cars are sliding around more. So there’s more fall-off, the track gets wider because you’re looking for grip anywhere. So that part will change. Real changes are good for competition.”
The Drivers Will Have Time To Test the New Package
GettyJoey Logano does a burnout at Phoenix Raceway.
With the new package making its debut at Phoenix Raceway, there will now be ample time for the drivers to put it through its paces. There will be a 50-minute practice session at the one-mile track, which will benefit the drivers that didn’t get to take part in the original preseason tests.
“Anytime we have major changes we like to get as much seat time as possible, right?” Chris Buescher said later in the session. “I say that and we went into a Next Gen car with 20-minute practice sessions every week.
“So it’s not something that we would get very often but definitely take it, right? There is a good meter to get a read on where we’re at being there was only a handful of cars that got to run the test and get those packages. It kind of catches the rest of the field up and gets us all a little closer.”
“I don’t know if you’re really going to get out there in a group and set up a simulated race or anything like that,” Kyle Busch said. “We’re all just going to do our normal practice where we roll out together, we spread out a little bit, and we go. I don’t think we’ll really get a chance to foresee what our cars will be like in traffic until we line up for the race and go.
“As far as practice goes, just trying to get a feel for what the pace is going to be, what the feel is, is it going to be way slower or is the car going to have a lot less grip, all that sort. That’s kind of the biggest thing you’ll set up for.”
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Joey Logano Is a Fan of NASCAR’s Short Track Changes