NASCAR XFINITY Series teams head to Richmond Raceway this weekend with just two races left to secure their postseason fate, but they’re also getting a jump on new car-construction rules for the majority of races in 2018.
Friday night’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) marks the next-to-last race in the regular season, but it’s also the first event in a three-race audition this year for flange-fit, composite-body cars.
“It’s pretty important to get ahead of it, even though Richmond is a pretty crucial race leading up to the playoffs,” said Blake Koch, driver of Kaulig Racing’s No. 11 Chevrolet, “but we still feel like we need to go there with it and learn as much as we can there.”
The new bodies, assembled with 13 bolt-on panels, have the potential to streamline car-building efforts, offer convenience in repairs and provide anti-tampering safeguards as a deterrence for rule-benders. The overall long-term goal of the switch from steel-bodied to composite construction is to reduce time and cost for teams competing in the series.
WATCH: Take a 360-degree tour of the flange-fit XFINITY Series car body
Using the new bodies is optional for this year’s three-race rollout, which also includes visits to mile-long tracks Dover (Sept. 30) and Phoenix (Nov. 11). An unscientific canvassing of the XFINITY garage after last weekend’s event at Darlington Raceway revealed that most teams plan to compete with composite bodies this weekend at Richmond.
“It looks good so far,” said Shane Wilson, crew chief for the Richard Childress Racing No. 62 Chevrolet and driver Brendan Gaughan. Wilson indicated that all five of Childress’ XFINITY teams plan to race with the new bodies. “When we get to the race track, you don’t know, but I think it’s going to be pretty foolproof. I think the task will be when we take them to Dover, not so much Richmond. Everything looks good so far and I really have no complaints, but I’ll know a little more this week.”
The new rule’s potential impact on the racing may not take immediate effect this weekend, but teams are already seeing its long-term possibilities in closing up competition disparities. Aside from the capability for time and cost convenience, the new body panels have tinker-proof features in the most aerodynamic-dependent areas.
That aspect, says crew chief Phil Gould, has the potential to reduce the amount of necessary wind-tunnel time, a premium expense.
“I think if everything’s done right, it’ll kind of close the gap up because there’ll only be so much you can do,” said Gould, who oversees the Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 Ford for driver Ryan Reed. “But it’s going to be up to NASCAR and how they police it, to make sure they hold everybody to it.”
Said Wilson: “Any kind of little wiggle room we can get in there is what we would take, and now it’s going to be more straight-up. That’s kind of what it is. They’ve put enough scare in us that I don’t think anyone will be manipulating it that much.”