Clint Bowyer says new chassis will bring more wrecks in 2013

• Bowyer says the current car bumpers align too closely, causing fewer accidents
• Kevin Harvick is grateful for the effective reset button that the 2013 package will present
• Bowyer: 'Not sure (wrecking) was a bad thing for the sport'

CHARLOTTE -- Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick agree the timing couldn't be better for next year's debut of a new chassis in the Sprint Cup Series.

But they have divergent motivations, both sporting and selfish.

Bowyer thinks the updated car "will be an extremely good thing for our sport" because it'll add spice to competition that has grown somewhat stale as teams have maximized development.

"Our teams have caught up to the technology (and) are almost learning faster than NASCAR can keep up with, and it's become a problem," Bowyer said. "This new car is going to take time for the teams to catch up, learn and perfect what works. It'll shake things up the way we need it."

Excluding the Talladega Superspeedway wreckfest, there has been one multicar accident in 1,600 miles in the first half of this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup. Bowyer thinks the downward trend in cautions and a resultant rise in fuel-mileage outcomes are due in part because the current cars' bumpers align too perfectly.

"I don't want to get caught in a wreck, but you've got to put yourself in the grandstands and watch these races through a fans' eyes," he said. "If they're not seeing at least some sort of mishap on the racetrack, they're probably not going to be satisfied. It seems like with the bumpers lining up (at) a track like Richmond, it used to be you'd accidentally get into the car in front of you, spin him out, collect a couple with him and piss a lot of people off.

"At the end of the day, I'm not so sure it was a bad thing for the sport. ... It can cause some frustration to shake the sport back up. Now (at) Richmond, you bump that guy and nine times of 10, you get a hand out the window thanking him. That wouldn't have been a wave a couple of years ago, it'd be a one-finger gesture."

Harvick and his Richard Childress Racing teammates are anxious to get updated rules for 2013 so that the team can work on a turnaround after a winless-so-far season. The team will have an opportunity to test a new car today and Thursday on the new pavement at Kansas Speedway.

"We need to get something out of it," Harvick said. "It comes at a good time for our team in particular for the fact we still have five races left and need to be more competitive, and a lot of same parts and pieces will be on the car next year.

"Hopefully, we can try things you wouldn't on a normal practice weekend and gather some data. It comes at a good time to gain speed."

But he said it's hard to gain too much ground until NASCAR finalizes its 2013 rulebook, because minute changes can make a major difference — as with a midsummer change that increased the clearance on side skirts by a half-inch.

"If one thing changes, it'll change the whole car," Harvick said. "We cut the side skirts, and the whole garage went in a different direction, and we never caught back up. That's where our season went sideways. We've run terrible since that happened."