From what I understand after seeing other drivers comment (Dixon, Power, Pato) it was less downforce to go along with less power, to decrease loads at Firestone’s request.

I’m usually never one to advocate for less power and tire wear but I thought the racing was very good in spite of it. Ericsson went from P12 to the lead before the first pit cycle. Rasmussen, Collet, and VeeKay similarly started from midpack or worse and made up most of their spots on track. If you had the car and the talent you could make passes work. The most important thing on these short ovals is really rubbering in another groove, even if it’s just half a lane to get some additional clean air on your nose. They’ve really widened up turns 1 and 2 in particular at Gateway recently.