NASCAR chairman Brian France isn't afraid to make changes to enhance stock car competition.
Since France took over the sport in late 2003, NASCAR has implemented what is now known as the Chase for the Sprint Cup and continually tweaked it in an effort to enhance the title race. The on-track rules have shifted over time as NASCAR went through new "generations" of cars.
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In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, France explained his approach to deciding when and how to make changes. He said NASCAR was pursuing the goals of safety and competitive racing — and was willing to make changes needed to achieve those.
"It's a high bar that we have set for ourselves because we aren't purists in that regard like a lot of auto racing groups are," France told Motorsport.com this week. "We're going to do whatever it takes to bring that NASCAR style of racing on the track to full fruition. That's simply what we have to do."
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The latest examples have been seen this season, when NASCAR changed not only the rules but also the packages on the cars for the All-Star Race, held last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. And 2016 began with the mandating of a major reduction in downforce, which has been met with widespread approval.
On Thursday, the sanctioning body announced more changes for the upcoming races at Michigan International Speedway (June 12) and Kentucky Speedway (July 9), changes that include the welded truck trailing arms and new brake cooling rules from the All-Star race as well as the following changes to further reduce downforce and sideforce: reduce skew generated sideforce by setting rear toe to zero (same rule used in All-Star Race), spoiler shortened one inch, splitter reduced to two inches and resizing the deck fin to match the spoiler.
NASCAR is at Charlotte for Sunday's running of the season's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600. The race begins about 6 p.m. ET.