BROOKLYN, Mich. -- NASCAR will make a rule change for the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup. It just isn't the change that some thought would happen.
NASCAR will not experiment with a new aerodynamic package for intermediate tracks in the 2015 Chase, opting to keep the car specifications the same as the teams have used for most of the races.
But NASCAR likely will change the restrictor-plate package at Talladega Superspeedway in October in response to July's horrific crash at Daytona International Speedway, where Austin Dillon's car went airborne and was ripped apart by the catch fence with debris entering the grandstands. The five fans injured were either treated at the track or treated and released from the hospital within hours.
"There probably will be [changes]. We are still having some discussion with the industry heading into Talladega," NASCAR executive vice president Steve O'Donnell said Friday night at Michigan International Speedway. "We have not settled on anything yet, but I think you can anticipate something."
O'Donnell would not go into specifics whether NASCAR would look to slow the cars or if it would try to keep them on the ground with additional pieces to decrease lift.
NASCAR told the teams Friday night of the Chase plans for the other nine tracks. With teams having already tested at those tracks, NASCAR decided not to throw a wrench in the Chase after toying with the idea of tweaks in order to create more passing at the downforce-sensitive tracks.
"Some of the folks wanted to push forward potentially, but when we looked at all the things that have been done, the preparation that's been done ... we think we're going to have the best racing for the fans with the 2015 package," O'Donnell said.
Of the 10 races in the Chase, five of the tracks are 1.5-mile tracks -- circuits where aerodynamics and downforce play a critical role, providing a major challenge for NASCAR to find a package where the cars don't stall out as much when they get behind another car.
That has had NASCAR experimenting with different rules for four regular-season races. NASCAR tried a reduced-downforce package in July at Kentucky Speedway and plans to use it again in September at Darlington Raceway. NASCAR employed a high-drag package in July at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and is using that this weekend at Michigan.
The Kentucky race was one of the best at the track, while the high-drag package did not deliver the desired result at Indianapolis.
"The low downforce is something a lot of people are excited about," said Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., "but I think considering what's at stake and what we've been doing all season, it's a good idea to keep it similar and give a level playing field."
NASCAR started 2015 with a reduced-downforce, reduced-horsepower package from what it ran in 2014. It uses a tapered spacer that limits air flow through the engine, cutting horsepower from 850-900 to about 725. The series also added devices designed to reduce downforce from 3,500 to 2,700 pounds, but teams have regained at least 500 pounds of downforce by engineering the cars to compensate for the changes.
The package used at Kentucky reduces downforce by about another 25 percent.