zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
NASCAR Is Already Trying To Fix Its Skew Problem
NASCAR Is Already Trying To Fix Its Skew Problem-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:52

The NASCAR Cup Series finally hit the track for official practice ahead of the Daytona 500 on Tuesday, Feb. 15 — and the series is already putting new regulations in place to prevent the skew of its Next-Gen cars.

If you need a refresher on and , we’ve covered that here on Jalopnik. And why spend words explaining it all over again when I wrapped it up so succinctly before?

Basically, skew refers to a set up where the car is set to run at an angle. The front end looks like it’s pointing in a different direction than the direction the car is actually going, which gives the whole thing a sort of crab-walk look. Usually, the rear axle is mounted at an angle when compared to the chassis. For oval tracks, that skew conveys aerodynamic advantages and reduces the amount of turning input required to go left, which makes the cars easier to drive and, crucially, which makes them go faster.

As you can imagine, that skew popped back up on Tuesday, when the Next Gen cars returned to the track to start practicing for the series’ first official race of the year. You can see Kevin Harvick running a serious amount of skew below:

Harvick wasn’t the only one, either — plenty of other cars were running similar levels of skew, some more obvious than others. You can see Alex Bowman doing something similar in an earlier session below:

NASCAR let the teams run their cars as-is for the first two practice sessions before it leaped into action.

Of course, NASCAR responded in kind with some rules and regulations dictating the amount of skew allowed during the upcoming event:

In the grand scheme of things, those changes are fairly minimal — enough to reduce the impact of the skew during the race but not enough, , to totally nullify anything the skewed teams learned in practice. Busch Pole Qualifying takes place tonight, which will give us a look at how drastically these changes will alter the look of the cars.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
This Mercedes Wants To Show You Its Undertray
This Mercedes Wants To Show You Its Undertray
At Zolder for the Blancpain Sprint race, Alexey Vasilyev had a massive crash that left bits of Mercedes all over a turn. Ever want to see the underside of one of AMG's GT3 racecars? Here you go! ...
Oct 26, 2026
Why IndyCars Can Test At COTA, But Not Race
Why IndyCars Can Test At COTA, But Not Race
Grainy shots of an IndyCar at Circuit of the Americas surfaced on the internet. So, will we see a race there? Nope! It's too close to Texas Motor Speedway, and the issue of proximity nixes a lot of other oft-requested tracks from the 2015 schedule, too. In statements made to...
Oct 26, 2026
Save The GT-Rs! (From Their Owners)
Save The GT-Rs! (From Their Owners)
Remember "?" We may need a new campaign for the technological wonderboy R35 Nissan GT-R. There are so many of these fantastic cars being driven by people who feel like the tech will save them at track days that it's time for an intervention. Full disclosure: it's not the car...
Oct 26, 2026
Do We Trust Clint Bowyer With A Flamethrower?
Do We Trust Clint Bowyer With A Flamethrower?
If you don't, too bad, so sad. Bowyer just got the most awesome baby gift ever from Kansas City morning show host Johnny Dare. Dare the reason for his gift: We've ended up staying in touch and hanging out a little bit and the stories have always ended up around...
Oct 26, 2026
Getting Back Out There After A Track Fail Is The Hardest Thing Ever
Getting Back Out There After A Track Fail Is The Hardest Thing Ever
For the first time in ages, I'm nervous about a track day. It's Texas World Speedway. I'm back in a tail-happy 944 just like my old one that got here. Even though I've personally never driven this track, I'm still intensely afraid of deja vu. Anyone who downplays or shrugs...
Oct 26, 2026
NASCAR's New Qualifying System For Talladega Is Terrible
NASCAR's New Qualifying System For Talladega Is Terrible
In an effort to make things more exciting, NASCAR how they do qualifying for Talladega. Problem is, the back of the pack at a track like Talladega is the fastest place to run, so we got the bizarre situation of racers not racing for position. Man, if I changed things...
Oct 26, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved