Busch said that he believes Saturday night’s race will feature drafting and slingshots, similar in nature to superspeedway racing at Daytona and Talladega or to what was seen in last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where this weekend’s package was run for the first time.
“I am anticipating (drafting),” Busch affirmed. “I don’t know how active it will be with the draft, but the way we approached our car on the (No.) 41 was in the area that was slightly different than one of the other cars at Stewart-Haas and another car went their route. We are trying to gather data as fast as we can and then be able to still zero in on what we believe will be the trend. But I am anticipating pack drafting.”
Because of that expectation, Busch said not to plan on any of the “usual Charlotte” racing rules or norms to apply when the green flag waves on NASCAR’s All-Star night.
“The shape of the track and the banking is there, but everything else is different,” noted Busch. “Everything is condensed with the way that the car is driving. I just hope to get more drafting experience with some extra practice time and see what is going to happen.
“Everything is going to happen in a unique way because we will be drafting and in a restrictor plate type of format … and the only time we have ever been in that format has been on much bigger race tracks,” Busch added. “Everything is condensed into a tighter space here and it’s going to be a lot tougher.”
The 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion then reflected back on a conversation he had a decade earlier with former California (now Auto Club) Speedway track president Gillian Zucker, regarding the exact scenario NASCAR and Monster Energy ultimately brought to Charlotte for this weekend’s race.
“Ten years ago she (Zucker) told me they had to repave the track, which they still haven’t, and she asked what I would think of a two-mile race track putting in 28 degrees of banking and running restrictor plates,” Busch recalled. “I thought it was somewhat of a genius idea … but wasn’t sure if people would go for it. But when you look at what we’re doing today, she was ahead of her time. She was ahead of the curve.
“Here we are at a 1.5-mile race track with a restrictor plate, trying to create a drafting-style package because data shows that Talladega and Daytona are the two most appreciated races we have due to lead changes, position swaps and action on track. So we’re trying it out at a 1.5-mile track, and I think Gillian was ahead of her time a few years back.”
Ten years later, fans and drivers will finally get to see if Zucker’s idea in fact creates the entertainment she envisioned back then.
