NASCAR overhauled the superspeedway package for the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway, and it seemed to be a success. There was far more movement throughout the field and the pack just seemed more dynamic, and less gridlocked than in the past.
Ryan Preece won that race — his first victory in 249 career starts, and in doing so snatched the final spot inside the Chase from Shane van Gisbergen.
NASCAR will bring that same package back for October’s Chase race at Talladega Superspeedway, but with one tweak. The original seven-inch spoiler, which was reduced to four inches for Daytona, will lose another half-inch from its total height. Drivers and teams will now have a 3.5-inch rear spoiler for Talladega, with everything else remaining the same as the Daytona package, including the reduction in horsepower.
“It seemed like it was a win at Daytona,” said 2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray on this week’s episode of NASCAR Inside the Race. “All the drivers thought they could build a bigger run at Daytona than they had in the past. I applaud NASCAR for taking a little bit more off, taking that next step. The other thing to consider is that Talladega is about eight feet wider than Daytona, so this gives you a little more options if you can generate a run to be able to make a pass. So my anticipation is fairly high for seeing how this works out.”
Carson Hocevar earned his first-career NASCAR Cup Series win in the spring race at Talladega. On October 25, the iconic 2.66-mile Alabama superspeedway will host the eighth of ten Chase races in the Cup championship fight, and is the only drafting track inside the Chase.
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