NASCAR RACE HUB Quote Sheet

Today, NASCAR announced significant rule changes for the 2015 racing season, including a ban on private team testing, a major reduction in horsepower, changes to the aerodynamic packages and more. Below are quotes from today’s FOX Sports 1 original studio program, NASCAR RACE HUB, in reaction to today’s announcement. For more information on the new rules package, including video, please visit: http://www.foxsports.com/nascar.

FOX Sports NASCAR analyst and team owner Phil Parsons on the reduction of horsepower:

“The first thing that stuck out to me is that for the first time since 1974, we’re going to have a reduction in horsepower for these engines – that excludes Daytona and Talladega from back in the late ’80s when we went to the restrictor plates. When they went from big blocks to small blocks in the early ’70s, that was the last time we had horsepower reduction, and it’s going to be a fairly significant one here, going from about 900 to 725.”

NASCAR on FOX analyst and former crew chief Larry McReynolds on the effect on racing:

“Well, NASCAR acknowledges the racing is good, but they know they can get it better, and when I talked to Kerry Tharp and Gene Stefanyshyn – I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with them this morning – I asked them the ‘Why?’ And the ‘Why’ is to create more passing for the lead, to create bigger packs of racing. They didn’t just wake up last week and think, ‘Oh, we think we’ll change the rules.’ They’re trying to make the racing better. Now, the one thing we need to clear up, as far as the technical rules – the horsepower, the aero – it does not go into place until race number two, when we go to Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s not in play for the Daytona 500. NASCAR has been here since 1949 and I’ve been here for 34 years since 1980. Even though a lot of things have changed, there is one thing that has not changed: they always are looking at competition, cost and safety, and it looks like to me that at least two of those areas, they are hitting and hitting hard.”

Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson on the testing ban:

“I think the ‘no on-track testing’ is going to be appreciated by crew members and everyone that is a part of these test sessions. It should save some money. It’s going to put a heavier focus on our simulation program, our seven-post rigs … the things we do at the race shop to enhance the race cars. It’s also going to make our practice sessions all that much more important. The start of the year, they are going to be full-on test sessions, trying big package changes on the race cars. We’ll all be fine-tuning, so that can make things entertaining and fun. Then, we’ll just have to see if the thing that’s out there – tire tests. What do tire tests look like? That might be an opportunity that race teams have a chance to go and learn and get data sets from these race tracks.”

Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, on the evolution of the rules:

“I think it’s really a continuous march to put the best racing product out there for our race fans. We think we’ve done that with a combination of aero, engine and working together with Goodyear – probably the most collaborative effort I have seen within the industry, with the race teams, the OEMs and the drivers. It really puts us in a good spot as we head into 2015.”

O’Donnell on the overall feedback from teams:

“It’s been really positive. This really started over a year ago with the test at Charlotte. We’ve tested a number of things, including the horsepower in the race cars, and what we learned from there was that, coupled with the aero package, really made a huge difference. And when we looked at that through a lot of computer simulation and worked with the race teams, got their input. I think, through all that, a lot of great science and a lot of great input from the industry, we landed in a really good spot as we head to 2015.”

O’Donnell on teams’ reaction to testing ban:

“That really came a lot from the race teams … in talking to the teams more and more this year, in talking about some of the things they are challenged with, one of them was just an exorbitant amount of testing, not necessarily NASCAR or Goodyear testing, but the amount of private testing that goes on. We worked together with the teams to put an all-out ban on private testing with a P6 penalty that will be in place if anyone is caught, which is a very significant penalty. Hopefully, something we’ve never got to go forth with, but we think we landed in a very good spot with banning that, but also putting together a new testing policy where we are going to work with Goodyear and the race teams to have more relevant tests, where teams can go and utilize the tire data from Goodyear, have the input from NASCAR and it really becomes more collaborative as we work together, not only on ’15, but that march toward 2016.”

O’Donnell on enforcing the testing ban:

“As with any rules, there are always challenges … but I think one of the great things about this one is the teams also asked for it, and as you know, the teams are not too shy about telling on one another as well, so we know it won’t be just NASCAR, we have a lot of people out there with social media and different things with the teams keeping an eye on one another. I don’t want to say it is all self-policing, because we’ve got a job to do, but we’re confident in the rule and we are confident in the penalty that we have established.”

NASCAR driver Carl Edwards on the immediate impact on racing by the new rules:

“I honestly don’t believe it will have a big impact on the racing. I think a lot of the fans are really excited about the racing they are seeing right now, but I do believe that this is a signal to the fans, the drivers, to everyone, that NASCAR is going in what I believe is the right direction. And that is to start removing aero impact from the cars. Every driver wants to be able to go down there in the corner, slide the car sideways, race  bumper to bumper, and at the end of the day, NASCAR assures us as competitors that they are headed in that direction. I think that cutting a little bit of the spoiler off, getting rid of some of that pan – it’s a small thing, but it is a start in the right direction.”