Blowin' in the wind

By DAVID GREEN

The Formula One folks have come up with a revolutionary idea -- a two-piece rear wing that engineers say will clean up much of the turbulence encountered by a driver who attempts to follow closely behind a competitor's car.

That's a breath of fresh air, if you'll forgive the play on words, for any race fan who has grown weary of the term "aero push."

The so-called CDG (Centerline Downforce Generating) wing places separate airfoils behind each rear tire of the vehicle, allowing air to flow smoothly over the body of the car. The separate wings produce downforce by deflecting the air flowing over the rear tires.

So simple, it's brilliant.

FIA President Max Mosely, in introducing the concept to F1 team owners in London Monday, promoted the innovation as something that will improve close-quarters competition. He acknowledged that F1 fans, in a recent survey, strongly indicated they'd like to see more heated competition -- more passing, more wheel-to-wheel racing.

NASCAR fans have always taken pride in the entertainment value of stock car racing, but let's be honest -- it's not quite as good as it used to be. And aerodynamics are largely to blame for that.

I'm no engineer, so I don't profess to know how this split-wing idea might work (if at all) on a full-bodied racecar. It's easy to see how it might work on an open-wheel single-seater; the tires are already creating a measure of turbulence, so the work of the airfoil is merely managing that flow. (Perhaps Purdue alum Ryan Newman could weigh in on this.)

But, if I may be so bold as to suggest it, let's make that (aero push, not necessarily a split rear wing) a top-priority project for the NASCAR R&D Center sometime soon.

Oh, and by the way, let's hope (those of us who give a rip about F1, that is) that the team owners embrace the FIA's innovation and introduce it soon. It seems to me that the idea should work well in IndyCar and Champ Car racing, as well. It might pay its best dividends on ovals, because the sustained high speeds create the greatest amount of turbulence with which drivers have to contend.