NASCAR bans tandem drafting in the Nationwide and Truck series

After some ruthless accidents in the last few years, NASCAR announced today that they've banned tandem drafting at restrictor-plate tracks (Daytona and Talladega) for the 2014 Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series.

Tandem drafting was eliminated in the Cup series when NASCAR changed the engine-cooling rules, thus making it almost impossible to tandem draft without overheating your engine.

Nationwide cars and the trucks will be switching to the same engine rules as the Cup cars, as well as smaller spoilers. Though tandem drafting is banned, drivers are still allowed to bump-draft, however it cannot be bumper-to-bumper pushing beyond a tap.

 “We’ll see how it all works out," NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton told Sporting News today. "It’s a reaction to a lot of things, and part of it you’d have to think that weighs in is the big wrecks.” Pemberton stressed that this ban will be strictly enforced.

“You can pull up and bump a guy and hit him, but you just cannot stay (there), you can’t connect,” Pemberton said. “So far what we’ve seen on the track today has been pretty good. … The drivers like the fact that we’re helping with that. The vast majority don’t want to hook up.”

“We feel like it will be a better race, a better show with more of a conventional old-school style of drafting,” Pemberton said.