Martinsville debut for new spoiler

After running a rear wing since the debut of the current specification of Sprint Cup car at Bristol in 2007, NASCAR has finally decided to ditch it in favour of a return to a spoiler, as used for many years in the series.

The device has already been tested at almost every type of track by a number of teams, and following an official test next week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, cars will be fitted with the spoiler for the rest of the season.

NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton confirmed the move in a news conference at the track today, where all Sprint Cup teams will test the spoiler next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Pemberton said that aerodynamic changes would also be implemented to the cars starting from Texas. Cup cars will be fitted with a shark fin on the left deck lid, as used in the season-opener at Daytona and this week in testing at Talladega.

The move is aimed at trying to keep cars from getting airborne, following Brad Keselowski's dramatic flip at Atlanta two weeks ago.

NASCAR has already provided teams with a number of spoilers fixed at 70 degrees with a four inch height as they will be used at all tracks but superspeedways. Officials have yet to determine the final configuration for the device at those tracks, following Tuesday's test at Talladega.