{"id":31607,"date":"2016-10-19T13:12:33","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T20:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=31607"},"modified":"2016-10-19T13:12:33","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T20:12:33","slug":"nascar-announces-2017-rules-package-for-cup-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascar-announces-2017-rules-package-for-cup-series\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Announces 2017 Rules Package for Cup Series"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"NASCAR
NASCAR\u2019s Gene Stefanyshyn talks about rules changes for the 2017 Cup season. Image from screen capture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Quite a few NASCAR fans think that nobody in charge at NASCAR listens to us when we complain or ask for changes. \u201cWe want better racing; more side by side tradin\u2019 paint!\u201d \u201cWe want more lead changes and more passing throughout the pack!\u201d Well, I\u2019m here to tell ya folks that they do listen. However, just like any bureaucracy, it takes time for new ideas to gain enough momentum to be put in place. They may not be changing everything we\u2019d like to see changed, but we\u2019re bound to see quite a bit of exciting racing next year thanks to the changes they did make.<\/p>\n

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Less Is More When It Comes to Downforce<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simply put, downforce is the amount of force generated by a vehicle as it passes through the wind. The more downforce a car generates, the easier it is to control. Generally speaking, that\u2019s a good thing. However, downforce also generates drag, which is a bad thing. Also a bad thing, as far as NASCAR Cup drivers are concerned, is that it takes quite a bit of the control of the car out of the hands of the driver and puts it into the hands of the engineers and crew chief.<\/p>\n

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\"NASCAR
Stefanyshyn shows us the difference between this year\u2019s spoiler and next year\u2019s splitter. Image from screen capture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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This is also bad for us as fans because it makes races less exciting. Downforce decreases the amount of \u201cUh-Oh\u201d moments on the track for the driver. Watching a car rolling through a turn sideways is exciting for everyone involved. To this end, NASCAR has been experimenting with decreased downforce packages for the past couple of years at select tracks. That experimentation is now over and the changes they made this year<\/a> at Kentucky<\/a> and Michigan<\/a> are now the rule. Aero changes for 2017 will include:<\/p>\n