NASCAR goes back to the Spoiler

DIGEST: Spoiler alert: NASCAR ditching rear wing
By UNION-TRIBUNE

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

NASCAR received favorable driver reviews about the switch from a wing to the traditional spoiler.

NASCAR opened a rare two-day test session yesterday at Charlotte Motor Speedway for teams to get their first extended track time with the spoiler, which will return to competition for the first time since 2007 at this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway.

“It was a very important day for us, and I felt like it went really well,” said four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. “I liked the way the cars looked with the spoiler, and the cars drove really well. All in all, it was a great day for us and we certainly gathered a lot of data.”

The rear wing was a component of NASCAR’s current model of race car that was phased into competition in 2007. Fans disliked the look of it, and drivers listed it among their dislikes of the car.

“We had reasons to go to the wing. Some of those might not have panned out, “ said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition. “Quite frankly, no one really warmed up to it. They didn’t like it, they didn’t like the appearance of it. They didn’t embrace it.”