Makes sense, since most street cars have wings instead of spoilers nowadays.

Wings have less drag than spoilers for the same amount of downforce.

Good for flatter tracks, as it would reduce the aero-push of trailing cars.

Bad for plate track, as the cars need to be as aero-dirty as possible for
better racing/drafting

Jayski has story & pics.

"armpit" <udontneedit (AT) myemail (DOT) addy> wrote in
news:slMxf.62973$Lb1.31051 (AT) bignews3 (DOT) bellsouth.net:

This is not necessarily so, altho for any configuration used for
racing it would probably be true.

Well, if it's designed right. No garauntees on that, altho so
far NASCAR seems to be doing a pretty good job.

Not necessarily. You can make a wing pretty draggy if you want
to. Stand it up at a pretty sharp angle, put a wickerbill across
the top, or simply shorten the supports so it sits closer to the
trunk lid - all of those would make more drag.

The good point with the wing is it's easy to make changes like
that. Race at Vegas, bolt on a wing with long supports and a
fairly flat angle, so it's pretty efficient and gives you good
downforce without too much turbulence on the following cars.
Race at Daytona, bolt on a wing with short supports and a
steep angle, and it's just like having a big ol' spoiler back
there. But all it takes is half a dozen bolts to change the
configuration, not a day in the body shop.

John

"John McCoy" <igopogo (AT) ix (DOT) netcom.com> wrote


<snip>

the teams to exercise their innovative skills with the adjustability or just
mandate spoiler angle, size and etc...as has been their wont.

--
Tom in Bristol



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"John McCoy" <igopogo (AT) ix (DOT) netcom.com> wrote


Another posiible bonus is that if the rear wing is a bolt-on piece, it would
be much easier to fix during the race if the rear of the car got banged up a
bit.

"armpit" <udontneedit (AT) myemail (DOT) addy> wrote

Possibly, but not by default. This aspect of it will entirely depend on
size, location, and angle of attack parameters put forth by the almighty
NASCAR dieties.

I saw the one they ran around Daytona, and don't care for the look (and
think the look is even worse on the "street" cars they're attempting to
emulate)...BUT, if NASCAR will give the teams the least bit of wiggle room
with adjustments, it could make for a huge area of aero-tuning potential. Of
course, that means even more wind tunnel time...more R&D money...meaning
less "cost containment" which is a stated goal of a lot of NASCAR's newer
rules. I'm leaving the jury out on this one until we see what NASCAR will
and won't allow the teams to do with these wings. If the wings even make it
into the final Prototype.

Kook Conspiracy Theory Angles: I wonder if Goodyear has reached their limit
in tire tech for these heavy cars, and NASCAR has "had to come up" with
something to help the "COT" cars in regards to grip? IE: Both rear grip for
the subject cars and front grip for trailing cars (aero-push).

Or, does the COT simply not produce enough usable downforce in it's present
design without such a wing? The testers at Atlanta said they were "real
uncomfortable" in traffic. Said they were quite loose.