Going into Bristol, I really didn’t know what to think and once I say the lineup of COT’s on pitroad, I thought, I don’t know about this, its ugly, but damn its Bristol, a half-mile bull ring, what’s better in racing. I believe that one of the Speed reporters said it the best, you could drive tractors around Bristol and you would still get a good race. I believe that.Despite throwing the COT in the mix, I really didn’t see a difference between yesterday’s race and years past. The action was all the same, betting and banging for 500 laps and if at the end you were within the top 3 spots, you had a shot to win.
Most of this race was dominated by Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, even the #18 car got in on it by leading a couple of laps, but it all changed with first a fuel-pump gone bad and then Jimmie Johnson cutting down a tire and not getting on the apron quick enough, that gave Busch the lead. Then it began…
What a final couple of laps showdown, Kyle Busch leads, Jeff Gordon second, Burton third and Harvick/Biffle fighting for fourth. When it went green for the green-white-checkers, it was on with Burton grabbing second on the high side going though one and two and fighting Busch for the lead, but it wasn’t to be for Burton, Kyle Busch holds on by inches to win the first COT race and gets 600 victory for Chevrolet. Now that’s Bristol racing at its finest.I have to say two thing, being first that Jeff Burton was a class act all the way, he raced Busch clean and second, if Jeff Gordon was behind Busch, Busch wouldn’t have won the race, Gordon would have done a bump and run just like in years past.
So, what about the Car of Tomorrow or whatever we are calling now a days, some drivers said the COT doesn’t drive anything like the current, well yeah, it wasn’t designed too. That brings us to WindTunnel’s question of the week, Now that you have seen it race, what do you think of NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow?
Basically, I need to see it race more on different tracks and Martinsville next week isn’t going to tell me anything, I am talking about Talladega, Atlanta, New Hamphire, Michigan, Watkins Glen and etc...but so far, I like the safety, and that was tested during the race with Jarrett and Gilland and it looks like it passed. The COT is a box, straight edged, like the cars Back in the Day.
How about things I would change, starting in the front, did anyone see Sunday’s 2007 Chevrolet Impala SS pace car, it had a body kit including a better look up front and in the rear, a large black rear wing…the front of the pace car looked better, start there. The green house is flat everywhere, but going to the back, the rear wing… a couple of things would include going Dave Despain’s idea of putting a giant decal over it so it doesn’t and out or better yet, take a page from the Modified Series cars and put in a large clear rear wing.
One change that must be made today is a smaller front splitter, fans say a lot of cut tires mainly from contact with the front splitter. Who knows what’s next for this car besides Martinsville next week, but its here to stay and I would say in 2008, it will be full-time…See Yeah!
(Image Credit: Motorsport.com - thats both images)
