Communication Key To Successful Two-Car Draft In Daytona

While the biggest unknown in February’s Daytona 500 was the newly repaved surface at Daytona International Speedway, six-time Daytona winner Jeff Gordon believes the largest challenge heading into this weekend’s Coke Zero 400 will be communication between drivers working in the two-car draft.

As teams and drivers continue to perfect the newest evolution in drafting, solid communication is essential. Gordon said the best way for the drivers to work together in the two-car draft is to utilize one spotter for both cars, something that has continued to develop since the season-opening race in Daytona.

Throughout the race, the communication and trust level between two drivers working together in the draft grows with each lap.

“Once you get into a pack of cars, especially towards the end of the race when you are trying to make passes, you’ve got to make some pretty evasive moves if you’re the leader,” he said. “So it’s really key for you to communicate which direction you think you may be going as you come up through there so that that car behind you can stay with you, because that’s the most important thing is having somebody pushing at all times all the until to till checkered flag waves.”

Although it is becoming an essential for success in this new style of drafting, Gordon is not a fan of being on another driver’s radio – especially when preparing for upcoming pit stops. Despite some drawbacks, Gordon said the multicar communication is now part of racing at Talladega and Daytona and certainly has its advantages.

“It allows to you guide yourself through the pack a lot better, through crashes, or the cautions or anything else that might be going on, how you can communicate as drivers back and forth about trying to keep the car cool when you want to swap if you need to,” he said. “It’s not something that we are used to doing. But you know, restrictor plate racing has always brought a unique style of racing and going about things different for all of us involved in the throughout the years.”