More on bump drafting
The issue could come to a head soon...
by Stan Creekmore, Lead photo by Tom Whitmore/VPS Motorimages

The question was inevitable. Gathered together for the driver’s meeting prior to the running of the Gatorade Duels, Michael Waltrip raised his hand and asked what NASCAR would do about the problem of bump drafting.

“To us it’s not a problem with bump drafting,” Mike Helton, President of NASCAR, said. “This is a problem of aggressive driving. A problem where drivers with a lot of experience doing things and drivers with not so much experience trying to do the same thing and not being able to do it right.

“Bump-drafting is better off if drivers on the race track control it and do it properly, if you're going to do it at all.”

A decade ago, the term bump drafting didn’t exist. A decade ago, drivers feared messing up their front bumpers if they happen to run into the back of another car. A decade ago, it was good enough to get within an inch or two of the car in front to create a train capable of passing. That was ten years ago. Then the front bumper disappeared.

The nose on today’s racecars lacks a front bumper. The shape is their, the actually bumper is gone. To protect the shape, teams beefed up the tubing behind the bumper area. And, along comes bump drafting.

In the beginning, only the most talented of drivers were able to maintain control of their cars as the bumped and slammed each other to the front. Then came the youth moment, young drivers under tremendous pressure to perform who haven't felt the sting of a concrete wall. Bump drafting wasn’t the only racing tactic getting out of control. It just had the greatest implications. As Tony Stewart said last Sunday night, “Unless we do something about this, someone is going to get killed.”

NASCAR officials have tried to convince the drivers to handle the situation on their own. On Tuesday, Robin Pemberton sent a message to the drivers during a competition update. “Everybody's got to remember, we don't drive those things. There's not a person in here that I think drives 'em. The drivers are in control. They've got pedals in there that they can push and steering wheels they can turn. To leave it in our hands, when we're not out there, they may get a call that they didn't bargain for, just like the pit road rules and everything else we've done over the years.”

Reluctantly, NASCAR is stepping into the fray, hoping a few penalties will wake up the drivers and possible shake up the worst offenders.

“Today's your warning we're getting into it. We don’t want to get into it, but we are. We know it's a gray area where we can not prove to anybody that we made the right decision. We can argue about it all day long, but it won’t change anything.

“It is what it is."
               
Helton outlined area of the racetrack, through the corners and the tri-oval, which would receive specific attention, however aggressive actions anywhere on the track would be subject to penalty.   

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