Dale Earnhardt Jr. reportedly caused a big wreck on Jan. 11 at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt was apologetic for the wreck after the race that knocked out 12 other vehicles.
"It was a big mess and tore up a lot of cars down here trying to work on their stuff, Earnhardt said after the race according to ESPN. "Definitely the drafting is not like it used to be. You can't really tandem certain cars; certain cars don't match up well."
Other drivers involved in the wreck included Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski.
No one was hurt in the crash, but all of the vehicles were too damaged to continue, causing many teams to leave Daytona early. ESPN reported that 10 teams had to leave because of the wreck, including Michael Waltrip Racing, Penske Racing, and Richard Petty Motorsports.
"It is unfortunate, but sometimes you have to wreck them to learn," Keselowski said to Sports Illustrated. "The sport is rewinding. That is the important thing to say. The sport advanced to the two-car tandem three or four years ago, and there were certain things you could do then that you couldn't do in the past without wrecking."
Many car manufacturers are using new cars for the 2013 season including Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet. The vehicles will feature "unique front ends" that will make the cars resemble street cars more than in past years.
The new cars will have less downforce according to Yahoo which will cause drivers to perform differently on the racetrack. NASCAR asked teams to simulate race conditions while driving the vehicles this week, and a total of 18 vehicles took part in the preseason race.
"You can't push, which I think is a good thing," Gordon said to Sports Illustrated. "The bad thing is you can still get to the guy's bumper, but the cars just don't line up very well. It's something that is going to have to be dealt with very carefully. You are going to have to be cautious when you do it and do it with the right guys, but most of the time you're going to need to stay away from it. That is certainly something we learned."
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