Even the smaller teams were able to mix it up with the leaders. Michael Waltrip, driving for Prism Motorsports, led some laps the old-fashioned way, as did Bobby Labonte of TRG Motorsports and Regan Smith of Furniture Row Racing. The new rules package – a larger restrictor plate and new spoiler – was largely responsible for the action, and has received positive reviews.

With so much exciting racing, thrilling action, and such a close finish, there’s no reason to complain, right? Wrong.

During Sunday’s race, two cars tucked in nose-to-tail could run faster than a long string of cars, and they could build up a pretty substantial lead – sometimes as much as a third of the straightaway. Granted, they couldn’t stay out front like this for long. In about a lap, they would be swallowed up by the string of cars. Still, when I saw two cars hook up and power out that far ahead, I wasn’t pleased. I knew this would come into play on the last lap of the race, especially if there was a green-white-checkered finish.

Prof Pi, of Fastrack RC explains:

There’s a very distinctly larger area of low speed wake behind the race car with the spoiler compared to the race car with the wing. The result is that the two cars can actually touch and stay in contact which reduces the overall drag of the two car duet, considerably, by perhaps as much as 30%. … Power consumption increases with the cube of speed (speed x speed x speed) so the observed difference of two cars together at 195 mph vs. one car or a string of cars at 180 mph should have required (7.415/5.832) 27% more power to go that much faster, but actually what happens is that the two cars linked together…have 27% less drag as shown in these studies.

Adding to this is the fact that Talladega was recently repaved, allowing the cars to stay nose-to-tail longer, according to Prof Pi.

But, when the cars are lined up nose-to-tail, the trailing car gets very little air, which causes the engine temp to rise. Once that happens, the trailing driver has to pull out of line or risk overheating the engine until it expires.

When the trailing driver pulls out, he is slowed by the wall of air that hits the nose of his car. (Before, very little air was hitting his nose.) When he pulls out, he leaves a low pressure area behind the lead car, which increases the drag force on the front of the lead car, slowing it down. That allows the string of cars to eventually swallow up the two cars.

Although the drivers can only run nose to tail for a little while, the time it takes for the engine temperatures to climb is long enough to allow the cars to build a substantial lead. So, if timed right – particularly on the last lap of the race – it becomes a two-car battle for the win.

In Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 Kevin Harvick executed this move to perfection. He pushed Jamie McMurray until the two had built up about a 10-car-length lead. Then, he ducked inside him and used his momentum to beat McMurray to the line by. 0.011 seconds.

It was an exciting finish; I’m not disagreeing with that. It was exciting racing; I’m not disagreeing with that. But, I would have much rather seen four or five cars battle for the win instead of two. But as I saw Harvick and McMurray pull away from the rest of the pack, I knew one of them would win. And for me, that took a little bit of the excitement away.

It’s not the fact that two cars get an advantage that bothers me. It’s that they get such a huge advantage and it takes a little while for them to come back to the rest of the pack, which ultimately decided this race, and is sure to decide the next few races until NASCAR does something about it. And with Daytona International Speedway to be repaved before the 2011 Daytona 500, we’re sure to see more two-car breakaways there.

Sunday’s race was a far cry from boring. And the finish was pretty thrilling – more than any other race this season. Still, the races could be much more exciting with more cars contending for the win at the end. And, as long as two cars can break so far away, that’s not likely to happen.

Pemberton said:

I think it’s an opportunity to change things up a little bit — and quite frankly, the wing wasn’t accepted as universally as we had hoped it would be by competitors and the fans alike. So after much effort, we started looking and decided to go back to the spoiler.

Teams tested the spoiler at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this week. Originally, the spoiler was U-shaped with two-inch by 12-inch extension flaps. But drafting speeds were higher than NASCAR wanted, so they cut the flaps and narrowed the spoiler.  In addition to higher speeds, the cars had high closing rate, which led to severe bump-drafting.

Pemberton said:

The feedback was the cars were stable but the closure rate was a little too much at some points. And that’s what we spent most of the afternoon working on, was trying to slow that closure rate down.

In addition, the shark fin that appeared on the left side of the rear window and deck lid during the Daytona 500 will be used at all tracks beginning at Martinsville. The fin was to only be used at restrictor plate tracks but after Brad Keselowski’s flip at Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR has decided that it was an asset that could be used everywhere.

I’m glad to see that NASCAR is doing everything it can to make the racing more interesting and exciting for spectators. If your driver is not leading, the race can be pretty boring if one driver runs away with it. While the dominant car in the race doesn’t always win, when it does we feel a little cheated.

Watching an entire race is a big time investment. If I commit three-to-five hours to watch a race, I want to be rewarded with good racing. And, I’m sorry, but watching a three-hour game of follow the leader is not exciting. I want to see passing. I want to see three-wide. I want to see excitement.

And, I think the new spoiler will help provide excitement. The spoiler should put a little more adjustability into the car, allowing teams to have better-handling race cars. And, better handling race cars, I think, will lead to better racing.

It seems that since NASCAR implemented the COT, more and more drivers have complained about their car’s handling. Hopefully going back to something that crew chiefs are be a little more familiar with will allow them to take better-prepared cars to the track.

I also think that the testing ban is hurting teams’ ability to wrap their head around the wing. Simulators and wind tunnels can show you some things, but nothing is as valuable as track time.

In part, an inability for some crew chiefs to wrap their heads around the wing has led teams who understand the wing (read Jimmie Johnson) to dominate. I hope the spoiler will level the playing field a little more.

I know that drivers won’t run three-wide on every lap at every track. And not every race will be exciting from start to finish. But, the spoiler should, at least, make things better than the were.

Brian Wolfe, of Ford North America Motorsports, said:

This truly marks the start of the next era of Mustang racing. We fully expect this Mustang…to start to enjoy the kind of success so many other Mustang racing programs have enjoyed throughout the last four decades. Mustang is a proud and historic brand for Ford. This is a car born to race, and NASCAR is the next logical step for its racing pedigree.

RFR also announced that Camping World Truck Series driver Colin Braun will compete full-time in the Nationwide Series next year. Con-Way Freight has signed on as primary sponsor for the team for 18 Nationwide races next season.

Braun said:

I’m so happy that Con-way Freight decided to move up with me to the Nationwide Series for 2010. They have been a great sponsor for the past two years in the Truck series, so it means a lot to me that they will continue to support me in the future. I’m also looking forward to driving a Mustang next year. I’ve always thought they are such incredible cars, but have never owned one. Maybe when I win my first race the guys at Ford will want to give me one of my own. 

Team  owner Jack Roush said:

I have been a Mustang owner and enthusiast for many years myself, so this is an exciting day to see this car racing in NASCAR. … With the continued support of Ford and Con-way Freight we plan to give Colin the opportunity for his second rookie of the year title in NASCAR, and ultimately a Nationwide Series championship.