Drivers want NASCAR to let teams cool cars during qualifying
: NASCAR's new knock-out qualifying format is more interesting than its former single-car qualifying format. But it's definitely still a work in progress. For example, one of the more notable instances from [the] session was drivers turning slow laps and cutting their motors on the track in an attempt to cool their cars down enough for one more hot lap. Under the rules of the new format, teams are not allowed to cool the cars down on pit road. The slow laps made for a bit of a lull in the session, but more importantly, they're a potential safety issue. #1-Jamie McMurray, who qualified third on the inside of Row 2 for Sunday's event, believed that the sanctioning body should consider allowing the teams to be able to cool their cars in the pits. Logano, perhaps noting the down time in the session, chimed in as well: "The cars would also go out more often. It takes so long to cool, so if you can do it in five minutes and go back out, there would be more cars on the race track to do a hot lap."
As for NASCAR's viewpoint, vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said that the reason for not having cool-down units used was to ensure that the hoods would stay closed and illegal adjustments to the car would not be made. "Like everything we've been able to do the last 4-6 months, we'll continue to talk to the drivers and teams, and solicit feedback on how, if anything, we can improve," he said. "We heard some of the same [feedback] and we also heard drivers within the last 30 minutes stop by and say, 'Don't let anybody talk you into hooking up the cool-down units.' Because they feel it's part of the strategy of how much tape you run, how many laps you run, how many times you run in the entire session. There are a whole menu of things that people want to work on and not work on."(NBC Sports)(3-1-2014)
: NASCAR's new knock-out qualifying format is more interesting than its former single-car qualifying format. But it's definitely still a work in progress. For example, one of the more notable instances from [the] session was drivers turning slow laps and cutting their motors on the track in an attempt to cool their cars down enough for one more hot lap. Under the rules of the new format, teams are not allowed to cool the cars down on pit road. The slow laps made for a bit of a lull in the session, but more importantly, they're a potential safety issue. #1-Jamie McMurray, who qualified third on the inside of Row 2 for Sunday's event, believed that the sanctioning body should consider allowing the teams to be able to cool their cars in the pits. Logano, perhaps noting the down time in the session, chimed in as well: "The cars would also go out more often. It takes so long to cool, so if you can do it in five minutes and go back out, there would be more cars on the race track to do a hot lap."
As for NASCAR's viewpoint, vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said that the reason for not having cool-down units used was to ensure that the hoods would stay closed and illegal adjustments to the car would not be made. "Like everything we've been able to do the last 4-6 months, we'll continue to talk to the drivers and teams, and solicit feedback on how, if anything, we can improve," he said. "We heard some of the same [feedback] and we also heard drivers within the last 30 minutes stop by and say, 'Don't let anybody talk you into hooking up the cool-down units.' Because they feel it's part of the strategy of how much tape you run, how many laps you run, how many times you run in the entire session. There are a whole menu of things that people want to work on and not work on."(NBC Sports)(3-1-2014)
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