NASCAR’s new short track rules package might give advantage to veteran drivers in Phoenix

Last year, the Next Gen car was not kind to the Cup Series' more experienced drivers. Changes to NASCAR's Short Track Cup favor more experienced drivers. The new short-track package, combined with a 50-minute practice session, benefits more experienced drivers.

Due to the new rules package, drivers practised for 50 minutes instead of the regular 20 minutes on Friday. The extra time allowed for many rounds of driver input and car adjustments. Teams might also change their setups between practice and qualifying.

Experienced drivers (and crew chiefs) have more track-day experience tuning in a car. Teams who have been working together for a long period tend to communicate better than new partners.

With less downforce, the new package will stress drivers' ability to enter and exit corners. Reduced downforce encourages increased skidding and tire wear. Drivers with better tire management experience will benefit from this.

In Phoenix, Kevin Harvick has raced four generations of cars. He has an 8.7 average finish across 40 races. His nine victories at that track are the highest for any driver and correlates to a victory rate of 22.5 percent.

Harvick finished in the top 10 in five of the past 19 Phoenix races. Over those 19 races, he had 13 top-five finishes (68.4 percent).

Rodney Childers has the most victories in Phoenix, with five. Childers has been teamed up with Harvick in 352 of the 607 Cup races in which he has served as crew chief.

Harvick and Childers won in Phoenix in 2018, and they qualified 15th for the race on Sunday. Yet, being swift is simply one aspect of being competitive. The 2023 throwback package should make them strong competitors for this weekend's race, which will be Harvick's second-to-last in the Cup Series.

From 2010 through 2012, Kyle Busch has the second-highest average finish at Phoenix in NASCAR. He is, however, still four spots behind Harvick.

Busch has a career average of 10.6 in 35 starts at Phoenix. He finished in the top-10 71.4 percent of the time, including 13 of the past 15 Phoenix races. With three wins, he is second among current drivers, giving him an 8.6 victory percentage.

---

NASCAR might impose severe fines on Hendrick Cup teams

NASCAR inspectors seized the hood louvers from all four Hendrick Motorsports cars during Friday's lone 50-minute practice session at Phoenix Raceway. These four cars are - the No. 5 of Kyle Larson, the No. 9 of Josh Berry, the No. 24 of William Byron, and the No. 48 of Alex Bowman.

Hood louvers are vents in each manufacturer's hood that serve as a release point for ducts that move air out of the radiator.

The introduction of vents eliminates the need for teams to tape up the front grille of the vehicle. This was heavily employed as a performance modification technique in the previous racing car generation.

Prior to Saturday's NASCAR qualifying session, the teams were permitted to modify the louvers. Up to 100 points, 10 playoff points, and a four-race punishment for a team's crew chief have all been imposed.

NASCAR will return the Hendrick louvers to its research and development headquarters in Concord, North Carolina, for further testing. Any penalties will be revealed early the following week.

NASCAR officials discovered a fault with the louvers during the first inspection on Friday but permitted the teams to use them during practice before confiscating them.