NASCAR is making progress on its superspeedway problem, and its latest solution has fans worried. However, Denny Hamlin has weighed in. He believes NASCAR's reduced horsepower solution is using the Atlanta formula at Daytona.

Speaking on the podcast 'Inside The Race, ' the No. 11 driver explained that the goal is to create a race similar to Atlanta where drivers were forced to stay on the offence. 

"What we’re essentially trying to recreate is Atlanta at Daytona," he said. "It happens organically at Atlanta, the space between the cars, because the cars themselves are grip-limited, and the fuel-mileage (racing) really doesn’t happen because you have to be on offense constantly."

On Wednesday, NASCAR announced that the spoiler for the car at Daytona will be reduced from 7 inches to 4 inches; along with this, the horsepower will be reduced from 510 to 465 to adjust for the reduced downforce. These changes come in an effort to reduce dependence on fuel-saving strategies and encourage on-track passing. 

How so? Well, at a superspeedway, cars often race in packs, and in order to overtake, they need to pull out of the draft. The spoiler picks up a massive amount of drag and makes overtaking difficult. That's what the change intends to solve.

The smaller spoiler will pick up less drag and rather than stay inside the pack saving their fuel, drivers will now have a better chance to overtake.

"You come out tenth, you're log jammed, you are not going anywhere, and with the cars having as much drag as they have on them, you can't pull out of the line to be on the offensive to get the track position back. We're trying to make it to where it allows the drivers to pull out of line, and when they get a run, then hopefully create a little bit of space between them to allow them to get back in line," he added.

Interestingly, Hamlin had advocated for similar changes post-race at Talladega after the 26-car wreck. He had said, 

"I hope next time they try something different. My first recommendation is please cut the spoiler off this car, please. Do whatever it takes. If we got to run 210 (mph), we’ll run 210. Please get some drag out of this car."

While JGR gave his opinion from a driver's perspective. Several others across the NASCAR garage have also given their opinion on the upgrades. 

John Probst weighs in on NASCAR’s new changes ahead of Daytona

Adding to the expected updated pack, NASCAR Event Management president John Probst explained how the reduced spoiler will aid in better racing at tracks like Daytona and Talladega. 

"That final, less than a car length, we feel now with the smaller spoiler you'll start pushing that car away, and you'll have to pull out and pass it, as Denny (Hamlin) mentioned as well, a lot less downforce so we did have to make a change underneath the car as well to kind of get the balance of the car back to where we wanted it," he said. 

Both Denny Hamlin and John Probst share a similar sentiment that these upgrades could promote closer and more aggressive racing. 

Follow the RFK Racing Digest for more such stories!  

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar