NASCAR has mandated that an air deflector, more commonly known as a shark fin, be added to the right-side rear windows of every Cup Series car for the upcoming race at Daytona. It mirrors a component on the left side and will increase lift-off speed during the early part of spins. The decision comes after a thorough evaluation of a sinister incident in Michigan this Monday involving Corey LaJoie.
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The Spire Motorsports driver was battling Noah Gragson for a position in the top 20 in the final stage when it all went sideways. He made contact with the left rear of Gragson’s Ford Mustang and spun to the inside apron. The car, almost immediately, took off and slid upside down through the track and into the infield grass. It rolled over multiple times before coming to a stop on its roof.
The piece that they are adding is the Right Side Rear Window Air Deflector which also commonly known as a shark fin. There is currently one on the left side of the rear window and they will mirror it on the right side. https://t.co/aCqbbEVmXs pic.twitter.com/KzIzAlyodm
— Bozi Tatarevic (@BoziTatarevic) August 22, 2024
What was pretty concerning about the accident is that the roof and hood flaps functioned just as they were intended to. The added pressure that they create under such circumstances is meant to keep the car on the floor. But somehow, they proved ineffective and sent LaJoie into the air. It wasn’t the only car flip this weekend at Michigan.
Xfinity Series driver Kyle Sieg wrecked in the same spot the earlier day and went upside down. For LaJoie himself, it was his second such instance this season. His car rolled into the finish line up on its side in the Talladega Superspeedway. Although this line of accidents is more prevalent in superspeedways, Michigan does happen to be one of the fastest tracks on the calendar.
LaJoie provides health update after violent crash
Thanks to the advancements made in safety, LaJoie wasn’t severely hurt even after suffering a hard wreck. He said on Stacking Pennies that he was doing fine physically but was just pretty frustrated that he wasn’t able to show anything for the good car that his team had put up on the track. He continued to explain his thought process during the flip and gave a first-hand account of what it was like.
“So I hit him and I started spinning out. I’m like ‘Damn it, just lock it down, try to keep this thing going,” he said. “I’ll drive around with flats on and we’ll put tires on it and we’ll still try.’ I was thinking about that all in the span of it getting sideways, then it picked up and I’m like, ‘Oh s***, I’m flying through the air.”
The new air deflector will add more stability to the car when it is sideways by counteracting the lift. The increased liftoff speed also means that the car will simply not liftoff at the same speed that it used to by far. NASCAR’s wind tunnel tests have yielded positive results on the addition. Hopes are that they translate beneficially in the real world.
