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During a press conference on Thursday, NASCAR announced that some on-track rules will be relaxed to put racing back in the drivers' hands when the 2010 season gets underway at Daytona next month.

"Over the past 10 years, we've dramatically increased safety, and that mission continues," NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said. "However, it's time for us to allow the drivers to drive. We don't want the rules and regulations to get in the way of great racing and fantastic finishes."

One of those changes -- the return of bump drafting. While the move didn't completely go away, NASCAR passed down rules in 2009 to police bump drafting, especially in the corners.

"NASCAR is a contact sport," France said. "Our history is based on banging fenders."

Another change for the Feb. 14 Daytona 500 -- bigger restrictor plates to give drivers more horsepower to work with.

Also during the press conference, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said that several changes had been made to the Sprint Cup Series car during the offseason.

While the most talked about change recently has been a return to a rear spoiler, as opposed to the wing currently in use, that change will not be made by the season-opening Daytona 500.

A spoiler test is scheduled for March 23 and 24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and decisions on the specifics of the spoiler and its debut date will then be made based on teams' input.

While most of the talk lately seems to have revolved around the return of the spoiler, Pemberton pointed out that that's not the only changed the COT has gone through the last couple of years.

"Over the last couple of years, there have been dozens of changes to this car, with this (spoiler) being the most visible change," he said.

What effect do you think the bigger plate will have at the Daytona 500, the biggest race of the season?

“I don’t think we’ll see a big change in speed.  NASCAR has given us bigger end plates on the rear wing, which creates more drag, and I think the horsepower gain will compensate for that.  Yes, it will be more horsepower on the dyno, but the speed on the racetrack will stay the same.  I’m not expecting to see much separation among the cars.  It’s still Daytona and Talladega so the driver that can hold it wide open all day long will be up front.  Brad has shown that he can win restrictor plate races so we are going to Daytona to become Daytona 500 champions.”

NASCAR will allow for “bump drafting” all around the track at Daytona and Talladega.  In your opinion, what will that do to the racing?

“That will be exciting for the fans.  You have to applaud NASCAR for listening to the fans and giving them what they want.  As long as it is done right, it won’t be that big of a deal.  It can get out of control when you have someone without a lot of experience trying to do it in the middle of the corner.  Then it can cause a big wreck.  I think NASCAR is doing everything they can to promote better racing for the fans, and that will certainly do it.  Hopefully drivers can control how they do it.”

The biggest buzz is surrounding the return of the spoiler.  As a crew chief, what are you doing to prepare for that?

“The indication from NASCAR is that once we put the spoiler on we won’t take it back off, so that helps a little with the preparation for the rest of the year.  There could be some changes to it, like the bigger ends you see on the new Nationwide COT.  I think it will give some of the veterans a feel that they were used to in the older car.  For someone like Brad, it should keep him closer to the feel of the Nationwide car.  I think most people just like the way it looks on the car.  I agree with them, but in addition to that, it should promote closer, side-by-side racing.”