The new aero-package for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 generated a lot of pre-race chatter, with the changes expected to make short track racing more exciting. It was successful in Phoenix earlier this year, of course, but in Darlington, Denny Hamlin did not see a night-and-day shift, especially in terms of how a driver managed their respective runs.
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The new package focused on cutting downforce and making drivers work harder. It also brought a 3-inch rear spoiler, a diffuser with fewer strakes, and lower air pressure under the car, paired with a bump in horsepower in the 670–750 range. On paper, more power and less downforce were meant to drive tire falloff, but Hamlin pushed back on the notion that a few tweaks could flip the whole dynamic in one go.
In the Joe Gibbs Racing Driver’s view, the changes did not move the needle as much as many had hoped, with the race still hinging on track position.
Hamlin said, “It wasn’t drastically different. It was still very difficult to pass. That’s just this is a narrow track, so there’s just not many places to go to avoid the wake of the car in front of you. I thought the good cars could pass, and the mediocre ones were hanging on. But it was still in track position type racing.”
“I just don’t know, you know, whether you’re really going to get away from that, no matter what you do, especially with as close in speed as all the cars are.”
In that kind of field, passing is not a matter of being a touch quicker. It takes a gap that stands out, something in the range of two to three tenths per lap. In racing terms, that is a gulf. Without it, moves on track become a grind.
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As a result, the fight often shifts to pit road. Teams look to gain an edge by pitting early or staying out, trying to flip track position or use tire life to their advantage. The focus moves from making passes on track to setting them up through timing, so drivers have fewer cars to clear when it counts.
The only real change Hamlin noticed with the new package was that the cars became a bit harder to handle on older tires, with drivers experiencing more slide and less grip. It may sound like a step toward shaking things up, but as he pointed out, drivers adjust. They merely need a handful of laps, and they find their rhythm again.
