I love the Move Back to the Spoiler

NASCAR confirms spoiler will return at Martinsville
By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM
March 17, 2010
05:03 PM EDT
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CONCORD, N.C. -- Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR, confirmed for certain Wednesday what many already had assumed.

Regardless of what transpires during a two-day test at Charlotte Motor Speedway next week, the Sprint Cup Series will debut cars with the new spoiler in place at Martinsville Speedway on March 28. That means this Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will mark an abrupt end to the wings that have adorned cars on a part-time basis since 2007 and on a full-time basis since 2008.
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Spoiler test

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Pemberton admitted the change was made in large part simply because many folks did not like the look of the wing, but also because the spoiler hopefully will make what he called "good racing" even better.

"I think the racing is pretty good," Pemberton said. "I think it's an opportunity to change things up a little bit -- and quite frankly, the wing wasn't accepted as universally as we had hoped it would be by competitors and the fans alike. So after much effort, we started looking and decided to go back to the spoiler."

Appearing at the same Charlotte Motor Speedway news conference as Pemberton -- ostensibly to drum up interest in the May 22 Sprint Cup All-Star Race -- Martin Truex Jr. said he welcomes the change from wing to spoiler on the No. 56 Toyota he drives for Michael Waltrip Racing.

"My first reaction was that it looks better," Truex said. "Every car I ever ran in my entire life except for the last three years had a spoiler on it, so I'm a little more comfortable with it."

Truex's team was among those participating during a spoiler test at Talladega Superspeedway on Tuesday. He said while speeds were a concern, most drivers were in agreement that the spoiler did not cause any dramatic handling differences at that 2.66-mile track.

"I was happy with it. Obviously, Talladega is not a great judge for us, because you go out there and pretty much run wide-open. You're at the mercy of the engine and the draft, and that's pretty much all it is," said Truex, who admitted "the fastest he saw" was 208 mph and that he, too, heard of others who supposedly went 212 mph or more. "As far as the package we used there, that's the only place we'll use it and we'll have to work on other race tracks to figure out what we're going to use on them."
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“
Every car I ever ran in my entire life except for the last three years had a spoiler on it, so I'm a little more comfortable with it.
”
-- MARTIN TRUEX JR.

That's where the test at Charlotte next Tuesday and Wednesday comes in.

"The test next week here at Charlotte is going to be a great one for all of us," Truex said. "There is a lot to be learned about the setup of the cars, what the spoiler likes vs. the wing and how it drives different. As drivers, we're going to have to figure that out -- and the teams are going to have to figure out how to get the cars better to work with the spoiler as opposed to the wing. I think it will be quite a bit different."

Pemberton said it is an important test, noting that many teams already have tested with the spoiler at non-NASCAR sanctioned facilities of all other types and should be ready to use it for real come Martinsville. He added that he expects the biggest difference will be that it may enable cars to maneuver around each other more freely and more frequently.

The Charlotte test likely will put that theory to, well, the test.

"It's been some time since we've had a test of this magnitude at any race track, and I think the teams will be working hard to find the setup that will work with respects to the spoiler," Pemberton said. "Many of the teams already have a month under their belts; they've tested it at various places around the country. They've got some experience and they're not coming in totally blind, and I think you're going to see what we've got in front of us for the rest of the year in regards to the spoilers."