Frontier justice back in NASCAR

By trying to appeal to everybody, NASCAR has been trending toward appealing to nobody.

Old-school fans are turned off by the corporate and sanitized product, and fans who never liked racing in the first place still aren't interested.

Now stock car racing's brass is trying to get some of the vinegar back.

In bold moves announced Thursday during Brian France's preseason media address, NASCAR lifted the ban on aggressive bump drafting at Daytona and Talladega and said drivers will get more latitude in how they behave on the track.

The decisions don't come without risk. Bump drafting in the corners at 180 mph is dangerous, and driver retaliation puts drivers and crewmen at risk.

But chairman France and Co. believe giving drivers more power to police themselves is a "back to basics" approach that will push the sport closer to its roots.

"They are going to mix it up a little bit differently, because we are going to loosen it up," France said.

NASCAR has restricted bump drafting in the corners at Daytona and Talladega - the two biggest and fastest tracks - since 2006, when Tony Stewart said he warned that the practice could get a driver killed.

After a scary crash in April at Talladega in which Carl Edwards' car became airborne and slammed into the catch fence, NASCAR completely eliminated bump drafting in the corners for the November race at the track.

That decision led to long periods of single-file racing, and even some drivers groused.

Thursday's announcement reverses the ruling for next month's Daytona 500 - which, by the way, is not sold out.

"The bump drafting (ban) as we know it at Daytona and Talladega over the past few years will be totally eliminated," NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said. "We will put it back in the hands of the drivers, and we will say, 'Boys, have at it, and have a good time.'"

There's more. Drivers are getting something they've been pleading for at Daytona for a long time: more horsepower.

The restrictor plates approved for Speedweeks are the largest since 1989. That will translate into more throttle response, more passing and possibly more daring moves - but also higher speeds.

NASCAR believes vast safety improvements over the past decade make aggressive driving less perilous.

"There's an age-old saying that, if you ain't rubbing, you ain't racing," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "That's what the NASCAR fan, the NASCAR stakeholders all bought into and expect."

One move NASCAR discussed with drivers and team owners but didn't make was to eliminate the double-yellow line at the bottom of the track at Daytona and Talladega.

NASCAR wanted the out-of-bounds lines gone. Drivers didn't.

"We respect their opinion, and I would say it was not 50-50," Pemberton said. "Probably wasn't even 70-30. Most of the drivers said, 'Look, we have enough changes; let's move forward the way we are, and we can continue to look at it.'"

Loosening the reins on behavior is part of a direction NASCAR started a couple of years ago.

The idea is that a yelling Kevin Harvick jumping on the hood of Ricky Rudd's car after a controversial finish at Richmond is part of what made NASCAR so entertaining and conversational.

If Denny Hamlin and Brian Keselowski want to feud or Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya want to go at it, why not let some of that filter through?

Within reason, NASCAR plans to do exactly that.

Have at it, boys, and have a good time.