Kyle Larson was one of the favorites going into the first playoff race of the season in Atlanta, but he wrecked out of the event in stage one. It is not surprising to see a title favorite crash out at a track like the Atlanta Motor Speedway but the circumstances under which he spun were bizarre. Nobody touched the #5 car, it just seemed to snap and spin on its own into the wall. The reason behind such a incident could have been the car itself, more specifically, the downforce aerodynamics.
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Joey Logano spoke about what happened to the #5 on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s podcast recently. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion believes that the lack of downforce when the car gets sideways could be why it happened. Bankings on speedways are a lot steeper than on intermediate and short tracks so the car is on its side a lot more. As that happens, a lot of the downforce is cut off which causes it to lose grip and just go out of control.
“I believe it’s the underbody and the lack of side force that’s in the car. The car makes the most downforce when it’s going straight and as it creates…you get more sideways or yaw in the car, aerodynamically it starts to shut off the downforce and you don’t gain any side force like we used to,” he explained.
The earlier cars used to have a quarter panel sticking out from the side, which helped the drivers keep their balance during such speedway races. NASCAR has made the Next-Gen car heavier to help with that aspect but incidents like these still happen at tracks like the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Larson explains the freak wreck in Atlanta
Yung Money also believes that a loss of downforce caused the incident. Car setups on speedways are usually quite stiff so any kind of change would result in a snappy reaction from the car. That’s exactly what happened with the #5. It seemed to be running fine but suddenly just snapped right and went straight into the wall. It was a scary visual but thankfully the driver was unharmed.
“I just got loose. The cars…when you get like off set like halfway of the guy in front of you, you lose a lot of downforce and I was just kind of living in that pocket and I felt fine and then it just started stepping out and I think the tires are so stiff for speedways, the car setups are stiff, it just makes reactions harder,” he explained in a media interaction.
It’s a good thing that the 2021 Cup Series champion has a lot of playoff points otherwise he might have been in a hairy situation. Larson will feel confident heading into Watkins Glen given Hendrick Motorsports’ record there. He will be looking to win that event on Sunday.
