NASCAR Legend Bobby Allison Once Challenged NASCAR to Let Its Drivers “Go After Each Other” in a Bid to Bring Back Real Racing

NASCAR is not the sport it was 5 or 10 years ago; it’s wildly different in various ways. So it’s obvious that fans or drivers who followed the sport in the 1960s and 1980s feel the sport needs to go back to its ‘roots’. Bobby Allison falls into that category of people.

In a 2011 interview, Bobby Allison made some bold statements on his judgment of where NASCAR had gone from when he began racing. He recommended some overhauls, which were basically guiding the sport back to how it was during his time as a driver.

He rhetorically asked, “You want to know how to make the racing 100 times better than it is right now in NASCAR?”. Answering his own question he said, “It’s simple: Take off the front splitter on the cars and let a lot of air go underneath.”

“Then let’s go and see who can drive the thing and who can’t when it’s much harder to control. This will also make the cars look a little bit more like the cars in our driveways, which I think fans want. I know I do.”

The 1983 Cup Series winner further went on, “There’s just too much engineering in the sport. Let the boys drive. And if they feel like it, let the boys really go after each other, both on the track and in the garage. Right now, that ‘Boys, Have At It’ thing that NASCAR announced [in 2010] has just turned out to be a p.r. move, nothing more.”

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Undoubtedly, the cars are much different from when Allison was blazing the tracks. But there’s an obvious reason for it – safety.

Bobby Allison and the splitter – understanding their differences

Allison’s criticisms are not whims – there’s a reason behind his disapproval of current-day cars. The reason for it is behind the aerodynamics of the car, and how air flows beneath the car while racing.

The splitter on the front grille of the NASCAR cars helps to block the flow of air. While that might seem counter-intuitive, given cars want to go as fast as possible, it performs the crucial function of providing traction.

When air can’t flow as freely from under the car, it pushes the car closer to the ground. That provides more grip, especially at high speeds like in NASCAR; even more crucially, at turns, when traction is extremely important.

If the splitter were to be removed, the car would become substantially quicker. But at the same time, there is a trade-off between speed and control. Removing that part from the car would effectively make the car more sensitive and more responsive.

That aspect ‘in theory’ brings in more excitement as the sport becomes more dangerous, more alive, and more entertaining. A win-win as cars can go faster and fans are more willing to attend races.

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But is that really where NASCAR wants to go, having witnessed so many dark days in its past? Doubtful. What do you think?