NASCAR Cup Rule Change Could End the Bumper-and-Run

NASCAR Cup drivers accustomed to using their car’s front bummer to slam into a competitor’s vehicle on the short tracks could find themselves out of contention rather quickly in the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway due to a rule change that’s made the bumpers easier to crush.

At the drivers’ request, NASCAR ordered the energy absorbing bumper foam removed for the short tracks. The drivers asked for the change because of the violent bumper hits they were receiving on the short tracks. Now, there’s a larger crush factor and that could lead to damaged radiators and cut tires. However, it also depends on the intensity of the hit.

Advertisement

“Is it a 2-mph impact that’s going to crush the front end? Is it a five, a 10? They seem to think it’s going to be pretty fragile,” Denny Hamlin said. “I don’t know. We’ll see how long it lasts.

“We’ve been taking bits and pieces off this Next Gen car for quite some time now to try to fix a few things. To have no bumper support is going to be interesting. It definitely could affect air intake. So, if you squash it in at all, you could have some engine issues.”

In the 20th century, it wasn’t uncommon for drivers to use a stiff rear bumper and then brake check a competitor as they entered a turn in an effort to push in the car’s front end. That would then cause the car to overheat, thus eliminating the competition.

Chris Buescher said the bumper change means drivers will have to “respect” their race car “a little bit more.”

Advertisement

“We’ve joked about it being bumper cars at times because it’s just a little bit of pinballing around,” Buescher said. “I think it’s trying to take some of that shock from our seat out of the impacts that we feel. On the other side, it’s going to force you to have a little bit more respect out there to be able to make this thing make it last 450 laps whether it’s a restart checkup or hard racing. The front and rear stuff is going to be significantly less stout.”

Daniel Suarez said the change means they can’t be as “aggressive” or just “impatient” as before because “you can damage your car very quickly.”

“You hit somebody and that thing goes into the radiator,” Suarez said. “I actually think it’s a good thing.”

Advertisement

Suarez noted drivers in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series aren’t as aggressive as the Cup Series because of the damage they can incur to their vehicles.

“We used to be less aggressive with the previous car because we couldn’t afford it,” Suarez said. “The car would get damaged and then we lost downforce or we lost cooling, or whatever that may be. I think it’s good that the car is losing a little bit of that strength for us to be a little bit more smart, because I feel like we have lost a little bit of that. You just have to be smart.”