This weekend the Sprint Cup Series goes to Michigan for its 15th race on the schedule and once again they'll be racing with a new aero package this weekend at the two-mile speedway. Last season fans didn't care for the high drag package that NASCAR implanted on teams at the track, but this season many drivers and crew chiefs feel that the racing will be better with the lower down force package.
NASCAR will make changes to the rear spoiler, front splitter and rear deck fin for two upcoming races to see how it plays out with the first being at Michigan this weekend. It is a proposal to continue to lower the aerodynamic downforce and the sideforce in an effort to make the competition closer the intermediate race tracks. The changes are similar to what the teams ran at Charlotte in the Sprint All-Star race.
Michigan has had some snoozefest races in the past few years and NASCAR is hoping that this weekend the package will make the racing much more competitive. Last season, Trevor Bayne finished 9th in the rain shortened event at the track. The race only had 17 lead changes throughout the event in 2015.
The changes for this weekend's race consist of of a reduction in spoiler height from 3.5 inches to 2.5 inches, a splitter reduction of two inches and a re-sizing of the rear deck fin to complement the spoiler change.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
There's 14 down and there's big signs of improvement with Team AdvoCare
There's still the occasional fan from another driver that has something negative to say about Trevor Bayne but the proof is in the pudding this season that he and his No. 6 AdvoCare crew have made huge strides to improve this season.
Daytona wasn't much improvement, they jumped two positions to 28th from a 30th. In Atlanta they took a drop off of last season's 19th place finish and took home 22nd, but had some adversity with tire issues after starting 3rd that afternoon. Las Vegas was a big improvement, jumping up to 17th from 28th a year before on the 1.5 mile track. At Phoenix, Bayne finished 23rd, an improvement off the 28th place finish place in 2015. Also Trevor Bayne had made a jump up in the series points standings to 21st from 26th.
The No. 6 AdvoCare team really began to show some stride at Fontana and had a tire not gone down on the car, Bayne might have gotten a top-ten finish. He still rallied back to finish 20th which was much better than 2015's 29th place finish. The team struggled at Martinsville and didn't improve as they finished 27th compared to 18th a year before. At Texas, crew chief Matt Puccia was going for the win with fuel mileage and a late caution backfired on them, but they were still able to get back on the lead lap and finish 15th, 3 positions better than 2015.
The season's best race so far came at Bristol. Bayne's home track where he took home a fifth place finish and improved his finishing position by 23 positions from 2015 (28th). It was the start of some momentum for Bayne and his crew. They finished 17th at Richmond, a seven position improvement from the year before on the 3/4 mile. Bayne was in contention throughout the entire race at Talladega Superpseedway, he was pushed out of the lead draft lead and still finished 10th, 31 positions better than 2015. At Kansas another tire issue gave them trouble and they finished 25th, still an improvement from last season's 31st place finish.
Another top-10 finish came at Dover, when Bayne finished 10th, 33 positions better than last season. In Charlotte, Bayne and the team just struggled throughout the night with the setup on their car and finished 25th, two position improvement from the year before. Last weekend at Pocono, Bayne was able to use a little bit of fuel mileage strategy from his crew chief Matt Puccia to get a 13th place finish which helped him improve last season's finish by 11 positions. Also at this point last season, Bayne was sitting 30th in the series standings and now sits 20th, a 10 position jump.
Their average finish last season for the entire season was a dismal 25.8, this season it has improved up to a 18.4. The other big number to look at is there is also a big Easter Egg in the DNF column this season with Trevor Bayne's numbers. He's been able to keep the car out of trouble and survive.
This weekend the series goes to Michigan and will run a similar package to what the teams ran at Charlotte in the NASCAR All Star race and Trevor Bayne ran very well with it at Charlotte. So we'll see if the improvements keep coming.
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| Matt Puccia been a big part of the improvement in 2016 |
The No. 6 AdvoCare team really began to show some stride at Fontana and had a tire not gone down on the car, Bayne might have gotten a top-ten finish. He still rallied back to finish 20th which was much better than 2015's 29th place finish. The team struggled at Martinsville and didn't improve as they finished 27th compared to 18th a year before. At Texas, crew chief Matt Puccia was going for the win with fuel mileage and a late caution backfired on them, but they were still able to get back on the lead lap and finish 15th, 3 positions better than 2015.
The season's best race so far came at Bristol. Bayne's home track where he took home a fifth place finish and improved his finishing position by 23 positions from 2015 (28th). It was the start of some momentum for Bayne and his crew. They finished 17th at Richmond, a seven position improvement from the year before on the 3/4 mile. Bayne was in contention throughout the entire race at Talladega Superpseedway, he was pushed out of the lead draft lead and still finished 10th, 31 positions better than 2015. At Kansas another tire issue gave them trouble and they finished 25th, still an improvement from last season's 31st place finish.
Another top-10 finish came at Dover, when Bayne finished 10th, 33 positions better than last season. In Charlotte, Bayne and the team just struggled throughout the night with the setup on their car and finished 25th, two position improvement from the year before. Last weekend at Pocono, Bayne was able to use a little bit of fuel mileage strategy from his crew chief Matt Puccia to get a 13th place finish which helped him improve last season's finish by 11 positions. Also at this point last season, Bayne was sitting 30th in the series standings and now sits 20th, a 10 position jump.
Their average finish last season for the entire season was a dismal 25.8, this season it has improved up to a 18.4. The other big number to look at is there is also a big Easter Egg in the DNF column this season with Trevor Bayne's numbers. He's been able to keep the car out of trouble and survive.
This weekend the series goes to Michigan and will run a similar package to what the teams ran at Charlotte in the NASCAR All Star race and Trevor Bayne ran very well with it at Charlotte. So we'll see if the improvements keep coming.
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