Well, our first test during the 2007 of NASCAR has concluded a day ago. It presented some challenges for the teams, the main one being the splitter and the fact that it hits the ground (at least at Bristol), slowing the car down. The teams who kept the splitter as close to the track without hitting were probably seeing good test results. Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet looked very strong during the whole entire testing session, both morning and evening testing. Kasey Kahne also looks pretty strong. Probably the most exciting and suprising test was of the #4 State Water Heaters Chevrolet driven by Ward Burton. He had a very strong night test session. Even Kenny Wallace posted good times during the evening tests.
Credit: FoxSports
Now about the COT: I think the car is becoming liked a lot more by the teams and general reaction from the fans seems to be satisfactory. The inspection station that debuted at the test seemed pretty cool to me also!! I think that Bristol is actually a good place to debut the car as well. I think it will just take time, as many things do in NASCAR, to produce the racing that we may see today. What do you think of the COT? Do you think it is a good idea to begin with? Do you see a good future with the COT? If you would like to comment about this article or of the COT, post a comment below. Thank you so much for reading my post!!
I'm interested in the COT. Would you please explain what the splitter in on these cars. I keep hearing the word used, but I am ignorant as to what it is. Thanks.
the spliter is the lip along the bottom of the nose of the car. it is tied to the bumper with 4 or 5 rods. it splits the air going into the front of the car, forcing the nose into the ground.
which cars did you feel were surprisingly at the bottom of the speed charts?
I'll be interested to see what teams do well with the COT when they race on a bigger track. Good racers on bad teams (Ken Schrader, Jimmy Spencer) have historically done well on shorter tracks like Bristol. It will be interesting to see what teams excel with the COT going forward.
One of the big snags is going to be inspection. They have these frames, like in the pic above, one for the top..they lower it onto the car and a certain number of "points" on this frame MUST touch certain points on the car. Then there's the same for the front and another for the rear. If your car fails the test?...Say Friday morning before qualifing?..You have to go to the back of the line and wait until EVERYONE else has been checked before you get checked again. Could kill your track time and kill your team. I believe they're talking about testing on thursday instead of friday. But it's REALLY going to be ..well almost impossib;e to alter the car . An inch or 1/16" bend here or there and the "points" won't touch the car where it's supposed to and boom...end of the line. (Earnhardt Jr has been driving it alot. He might be one to look ar when they go with these cars. My man #07 U.S.O.F. too.
Seriously, thank you for posting comments!! I really can't wait to see this car in action also, like in a race. I think that, like explained above in comments, that we might see suprising finishes with the COT, and I mean right off the bat.
Agree with 14Falcon that this is an important step forward. I really like the COT idea.
I even like that it might be more "fragile" than current cars. There SHOULD be some penalty for collisions/wrecks. It just doesn't seem right that cars can have some sort of serious incident with another car or the wall, and stay on the lead lap or even win. This isn't bumper cars, it's professional racing. There is a limit to bumpin' and grindin', and the COT will lower that limit. Good for NASCAR.
Now, if they can just make the cars QUICKER, they might have the added excitement of truly "flying" starts, such as those that the IRL has (either at the start of the race or on the restarts after cautions). For those of you who love NASCAR - go see at least one IRL race (I'd of course recommend the Indy 500) to see a true flying start. They are incredible. And a car that accelerated from 90 to 180 in less than twenty-five seconds (say, eight or nine seconds) would give you those too - AND bumpin' and grindin'.
Hi all NASCAR fans!! Well, my name is Sean and I am huge fan of NASCAR. The sport is simply the greatest thing the world has created!! I actually race at a local dirt track in Watsonville, CA and have so much fun racing cars!! Thanks to everyone who reads this blog and hope you all like it. Take care everyone :)
