NASCAR Michigan preview: New aero package presents challenges

Speeds flirting with 220 mph barreling into Michigan International Speedway’s sweeping corners. Cars with diminutive rear spoilers skating on the edge of control, giving the appearance of wanting to breakaway like a wrapper caught in a stiff breeze.

A harrowing set of conditions that, while sounding treacherous to an outsider, is nearly idyllic to the 40 drivers who will compete in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400.

“These cars, they are out of control,” Joey Logano said. “It is a lot of fun. You go down to the corners at 200-something and it feels really fast. You get to the corner and you have your hands full trying to figure out what you are going to do. It is a fun challenge for the drivers.”

That those tasked with turning the wheel are relishing the environment they find themselves this weekend is no surprise. Drivers lobbied -- and in some instances demanded -- a low downforce aerodynamic package, which the sanctioning body acquiesced to by overhauling its rules prior to the season.

And as teams naturally worked to restore the downforce officials took away -- greater downforce provides stability, which begets faster speeds -- throughout the course of the season, NASCAR countered by removing additional downforce specifically for Michigan and July 9 at Kentucky Speedway.

Having a dramatically smaller spoiler (one-inch lower and eight-inches narrower) may present numerous challenges, but those kinds of obstacles can be overcome by talent. Steering a car with little stability requires a high level of skill, thereby placing the onus on the driver to manage the delicate balance between going fast and losing control.

“It is fun to drive,” Brad Keselowski said. “You enter the corner almost 220 mph and you turn left and the front goes and the back doesn’t always go with it. That is quite a feeling for sure. It is a unique challenge that I think will bring out some of the best racing we have seen in quite some time.”

There’s that word “fun” again, one commonly uttered this weekend. Empowered by NASCAR with a rules package they sought, drivers are embracing the possibilities that lie ahead on Sunday.

Although speeds into a corner routinely hit between 215 to 220 mph during practice, drivers had to slow down through the apex of a turn upwards of 30 mph. That differential creates additional passing opportunities.

“You can drive in the corner a little deeper,” Aric Almirola said. “You can lift a little sooner. It really opens up the driver’s toolbox if you will.”

Instead of track position and strategy being the primary deciding factors in winning and losing, drivers believe they will now be the difference makers. That conventional wisdom, however, has yet to be tested in actual race conditions featuring a full field of 40 cars.

During Friday’s lone practice, teams focused almost exclusively on single-car runs in preparation for qualifying later that afternoon. On Saturday, both sessions of practice again saw drivers largely avoid traffic. Sunday will mark the first time drivers experience the lower downforce package surrounded by other cars.

“I would assume it is going to be better than what it used to be in traffic,” said Logano, who captured the pole in qualifying. “It is going to be definitely better than the last time (in August) we were here with that big (nine-inch) spoiler on the back.”

“I don’t know exactly what it is going to do, whether it will be tighter or looser or what. There are a lot of unknowns at this point.”