By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports activities NASCAR reporter
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Sequence season begins Tuesday (form of) with the Busch Conflict (7 p.m. ET, FS1).
To get you prepared, listed below are 21 questions – and an try at 21 solutions – for 2021:
1. Why is that this exhibition Busch Conflict race on the highway course?
NASCAR thought this is able to add some intrigue to the preseason occasion. Plus, it appeared like a great way to keep away from wrecking a bunch of vehicles, contemplating that when this determination was made, the Busch Conflict was going to be with the present automobile, and the Subsequent Gen automobile would debut on the Daytona 500. In fact, the Subsequent Gen is now postponed to 2022.
2. Why is Speedweeks now a Speedweek?
NASCAR opted to condense the schedule into six consecutive days of racing fairly than have or not it’s seven days over a 10-day stretch, considering that the Conflict and qualifying may draw extra individuals. It additionally averted a battle with this yr’s Tremendous Bowl. The modifications pushed the Busch Conflict to Tuesday, Daytona 500 pole qualifying to Wednesday and the ARCA race to Saturday.
3. Why so many highway programs in 2021?
NASCAR initially deliberate to extend the variety of highway programs to 6, and it turned seven when the Daytona highway course was added instead of California. NASCAR stated its followers need extra highway programs, and it answered that request. The Subsequent Gen automobile is also designed to deal with higher on highway programs, which hopefully will enable for drivers to hustle the automobile and provides NASCAR the choice of including some road programs. The brand new highway programs for 2021 are Circuit of the Americas, Street America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway highway course, becoming a member of Sonoma and Watkins Glen (which didn’t have races final season due to the pandemic) and the Charlotte and Daytona highway programs.
4. Alex Bowman is within the 48 now. Is {that a} large deal?
Bowman just about has the identical staff and the identical vehicles — with a brand new paint job, a brand new fireplace go well with and a brand new sponsor. It’s a giant deal within the sense that the 48 has sponsorship, and Bowman is being entrusted to carry out effectively sufficient that the Ally sponsorship continues effectively previous its present contract by means of 2022. For Bowman, having stepped into the No. 88 automobile because the alternative of Dale Earnhardt Jr., he ought to no less than not be intimidated about inheriting the variety of seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
5. What about all that driver motion this yr?
That discussion deserves its own separate post.
6. Are there any new guidelines to observe?
NASCAR had been penalizing a crew member standing behind the pit wall if the crew member, when reaching to seize a tire, fell over the wall and put a hand on pit highway. Now the rulebook states {that a} crew member helping from the tools facet of pit highway “could not considerably or purposely contact the pit highway floor.”
NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competitors Scott Miller commented on the brand new rule: “What which means is that if a man is reaching over the wall to seize a tire, slips and places his hand down on pit highway, that’s no hurt, no foul. If the staff goals up a strategy to have a man hanging over the wall and is on the market doing one thing that we really feel is unsafe or not within the spirit of the competitors, then we are going to name a penalty for that.”
7. Are there any NASCAR “factors of emphasis” to concentrate on?
NASCAR might be checking wheel wells with a template it has utilized in previous years however stopped utilizing when it went to its present Hawk-Eye laser and digital camera system three years in the past.
Mentioned NASCAR Cup Sequence Director Jay Fabian: “That is likely one of the areas of the race automobile that I felt like we would have liked to be just a little extra buttoned up on. We’re definitely introducing a number of extra analog instruments to make it possible for is the form it’s speculated to be to verify all people is similar and now we have a degree taking part in area.”
When requested concerning the change, Joey Logano‘s crew chief, Paul Wolfe, stated: “We’ve obtained the templates now, and all of our vehicles have been adjusted to it, however we’ve seen greater modifications prior to now. I wouldn’t name this large for us, and it’s all the identical for everybody now. I believe it’s simply there are methods — and it’s our job to attempt to discover methods — to govern the system, and that’s what everybody had been doing, they usually simply needed to rein it in just a little bit, and this template will carry that again in.”
8. Is NASCAR testing for COVID-19?
NASCAR is just not testing for COVID-19 as a result of staff rosters are fluid and alter. NASCAR as an alternative treats occasions as if there are COVID-19-positive individuals within the storage and takes protocols severely, NASCAR Vice President of Racing Operations John Bobo stated.
“We now have added fast testing in towards the tip of final yr, and we used it fairly a bit,” he stated. “We anticipate we are going to proceed to make use of it aggressively as wanted when conditions come up and with contact tracing and coping with identified exposures.”
9. Simply how previous is Derrike Cope, and why is he doing the Daytona 500?
Cope, the 1990 winner of the Daytona 500, is 62 years previous and would be the second-oldest driver ever to start out the race. He runs StarCom Racing, and the staff house owners and his household labored a deal for him to drive for Rick Ware Racing in a automobile ready by StarCom. Cope hasn’t raced a Cup occasion since 2018 and never at Daytona since 2004 (his final drafting superspeedway Cup begin was Talladega in 2006).
“I perceive the air nearly as good as anybody,” he stated. “If I do make it to the tip and 20 to go and I can get myself ready to have some air and be ready to race laborious, they’ll know I’m there.”
Cope indicated he’s prepared to combine it up.
“The one factor I’ve at all times carried out is I’m not afraid of something,” Cope stated. “I’m not afraid of blending it up. I’m not afraid of pushing and shoving. And I’m not afraid of wrecking. So the underside line is that if they need to play, we’ll play.
“I’ve obtained one shot at this factor. When it’s all stated and carried out, I can stroll away, get to the airplane and say, ‘You realize what? I had a whole lot of enjoyable at the moment. Sorry you guys obtained wrecked.’”
10. Why is Jamie McMurray popping out of retirement for this race?
Throughout the pandemic, McMurray began getting the urge to race once more, regardless that he had not raced because the 2019 Daytona 500. The FOX analyst was doing an look for a sponsor final yr, and the sponsor jokingly floated the concept of McMurray doing yet another Daytona 500.
The 2010 winner of the race instructed AdventHealth that he would have an interest, and he might be driving the Spire Motorsports No. 77 ready by Chip Ganassi Racing.
“I’m tremendous pumped to have one other shot, being in an ideal automobile, an ideal engine with a staff that’s going to be able to happening there and successful,” McMurray stated.
11. What number of races may have observe and qualifying?
Eight Cup races may have observe and qualifying. Three might be marquee occasions: the Daytona 500, the Charlotte 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the championship at Phoenix. The opposite 5 might be new tracks for Cup: Bristol dust (sure, they’ve lined the Bristol observe with dust), Circuit of the Americas, Nashville Superspeedway, Street America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway highway course.
12. Joe Gibbs Racing not too long ago prolonged Denny Hamlin’s contract. What about Martin Truex Jr.?
Truex, who turns 41 in the course of the 2021 season, indicated Friday that he probably will race into no less than age 42. When requested if he has had talks with JGR and the way they had been progressing, he responded: “We now have had talks, and issues have moved ahead.”
13. Has Kevin Harvick gotten over successful 9 races final yr and being knocked out of championship competition within the semifinal spherical?
Sure, he has, and his Stewart-Haas Racing crew members higher have as effectively, in accordance with Harvick.
“They know that I’ll get fairly annoyed in the event that they need to sit and dwell on what occurred final yr once we’re already into simply over every week away from the Daytona 500,” Harvick stated. “They higher have moved on. In the event that they haven’t, they don’t discuss to me about it.”
14. Is Kyle Busch ever going to do the Indianapolis 500?
Most likely, however it received’t be in 2021.
“To me, it would not make sense … till all the things’s form of all again to regular and also you get the entire large hoopla of what that occasion’s actually all about,” Busch stated. “I actually loved seeing my brother do it, and clearly he had success, and [when] Fernando Alonso [did it] final yr, it simply form of appeared like, you already know, the Indy 500 ran, however it was form of a misplaced Indy 500, if you’ll.
“So we’ll wait till issues get again to regular.”
15. Why does Rick Ware have 4 charters and an IndyCar staff?
Identical to a home that’s being bought with a number of consumers, it comes down to cost paid and the power to get financing. Ware has been capable of do it, and he hopes that the brand new automobile in 2022 will create parity among the many competitors. And if somebody is determined to purchase a constitution, he may recoup a few of his funding.
However why not have one or two groups and attempt to run stronger?
“Simply since you spend extra money [per car] doesn’t suggest that you’ll transfer up two or three or 4 spots,” he stated. “We now have groups that had been spending $14 million and $15 million for the season, $10 million greater than we had been.
“They completed two, three, 4 spots forward of us in factors.”
Ware stated that having a number of vehicles and competing in a number of sequence permits him to present sponsors various alternatives with one group.
Ware’s No. 51 staff should end higher than three different constitution groups this yr, or NASCAR may (however isn’t required to) revoke the constitution and promote it to a different group.
16. Was Chase Elliott as unhealthy as he thinks he was within the Rolex 24?
No. The automobile was designed to deal with greatest within the day as a result of the ultimate 9 hours had been in daylight. So when he was driving it from nightfall to darkness, it wasn’t set as much as deal with effectively.
17. Will Ryan Blaney be one of many drivers to beat on the Bristol dust race?
Whereas Ryan’s father, Dave, and his uncle, Dale, made their names in dash vehicles on dust, Ryan Blaney has little or no expertise on dust.
“Everybody expects me to do good due to my final title and it’s dust, [saying], ‘It’s essential to run nice on dust,’” Blaney stated. “Possibly I’ve some genetic factor that’s supposed me run OK on dust.”
18. Whom ought to I look ahead to within the Xfinity Sequence this yr?
AJ Allmendinger. The previous Cup driver is doing his first full season of Xfinity as he drives for Kaulig Racing. Final yr, he had two wins and eight top-10s in 11 Xfinity Sequence begins – and that features a race at Daytona through which he had a shot to win earlier than tangling with teammate Ross Chastain.
Talking of former Cup drivers, Daniel Hemric is working a full season at Joe Gibbs Racing in what he hopes will rejuvenate his profession.
Plus, Noah Gragson pledges he’ll proceed with a checkers-or-wreckers perspective.
19. Whom ought to I look ahead to within the Tenting World Truck Sequence this yr?
Sheldon Creed received 5 races on his strategy to the title. Can he do it once more, and if that’s the case, which Xfinity staff would rent him for 2022? Additionally, there might be loads of eyes on rookie Hailie Deegan, daughter of Moto X and motion sports activities star Brian Deegan, with the important thing being whether or not she will publish stable outcomes on the 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks.
20. Trying forward, what’s the Subsequent Gen automobile improvement and testing plan?
The event of the automobile is primarily carried out. NASCAR may have its automobile on observe March 16-17 at Richmond, and the manufactures will every have a automobile on observe in late March (probably March 29-31) at Martinsville. That Martinsville check might be for producers to get knowledge with a automobile decked out with quite a few sensors (wheel power transducers) and never a check within the sense of a driver attempting to get most velocity.
Groups received’t be getting their first chassis and our bodies from the suppliers till mid-June (the chassis will come from Method). Unveiling plans of the our bodies for every producer ought to be introduced in late spring.
21. Trying method forward, are electrical race vehicles coming to NASCAR?
Sure. The Subsequent Gen automobile is designed to have the ability to accommodate hybrid and electrical engines. Contemplating that Chevrolet introduced it could be promoting solely electrical autos by 2035, you’ll be able to rely on NASCAR trying that method.
“Electrical is a crucial a part of our firm as we glance towards the long run and what the propulsion methods might be, and that’s one thing we’d like to consider as a sport,” Ford Motorsports International Director Mark Rushbrook stated. “Inside combustion engine versus hybrid versus electrical and what the best time is just not just for hybrid however for electrical.
“It’s one thing we ought to be speaking about and fascinated with and planning. We received’t be racing full electrical anytime quickly within the Daytona 500, however sooner or later, we expect it’s good for the game to think about the choice of when it does make sense to carry that in.”
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