NASCAR's New Rules Package Passes Test at Kentucky, Appears to Be Big Success

Judging by how Saturday’s Quaker State 400 played out, Kyle Busch wasn’t the only winner.

So too was NASCAR, and ESPECIALLY its fans.

With a track-specific aero rules package implemented specifically for Saturday’s race that significantly decreased downforce—putting more handling and control of the car in the drivers’ hands—the end result wasn’t just superb, it likely far exceeded most everyone’s expectations.

The biggest complaint over the last several years by drivers, fans and media has been that racing is too technically controlled, and as a result, the actual competition has devolved far too often into a follow-the-leader exercise.

Wanting closer and more side-by-side racing, along with more passing for not just the lead but also for positions throughout the field, the voices of the fans, drivers and media were finally heard and acknowledged by NASCAR.

Which led to Saturday’s race.

Even though actual testing of the package was rained out Wednesday, teams still were able to adapt and turned race-day Saturday into an exceptional example of what so many hoped would occur.

All you have to do is look at the numbers.

There were 22 green-flag passes for the lead, a record for the first five Sprint Cup races at Kentucky Speedway. The previous mark was 19 in the inaugural race in 2011, followed by nine in 2012, just six in 2013 and 12 in last year’s race.

There were 3,216 total green-flag passes in the 2011 debut event, but the numbers had fallen off considerably since: 1,849 (2012), 1,650 (2013) and just 1,147 in 2014. Not so on Saturday, as the new rules package most definitely made a huge impact with 2,665 passes among the 43 cars in the field.

If a grade were to be attached to Saturday’s results, there’s little question it would be an A plus. Everything NASCAR hoped for was achieved.

Now we move on, with several tracks in line for specific aero packages to be implemented in upcoming races at Michigan, Indianapolis and Darlington—with the likelihood of even more tracks to have specific aero packages still to come.

The Sprint Cup Series will have several teams take part in a two-day closed Goodyear tire test Monday and Tuesday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Then there’s an open test at CLS on Wednesday that will feature more than a dozen teams. That test will likely set a baseline for a track-specific aero package to be implemented for the first race of the upcoming Chase for the Sprint Cup.

John Bazemore/Associated Press

And if things continue going in the direction NASCAR hopes, we could potentially see even more track-specific aero packages at several tracks in the 10-race Chase, particularly 1.5-mile facilities, which account for half of those 10 races.

Think about it: If NASCAR can duplicate the performance and close racing seen Saturday at Kentucky at places like Chicagoland, Kansas, Charlotte, Texas and the season finale at Homestead-Miami, the sport could see a dramatic increase in TV ratings, at-track attendance and overall interest in the sport.

"This direction is the direction we need to go, hands down," fourth-place finisher Carl Edwards told Connor Casey of the Louisville Courier-Journal. "This is the most fun I've had at a mile-and-a-half in years. We need more of this.

“You can see guys get real close and they can race, but it still gets a little strung out. But this is way better than what we've been running with. I felt like I was actually driving a race car tonight.”

Follow me on Twitter @JerryBonkowski.