Tomorrow Might Come Very, Very Soon

February 28, 2007 | Posted by VroomDude
4 Comments

All you Car of Tomorrow haters might have to get over all the hating a little sooner than anticipated:

Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said Wednesday that he expects teams to run a full schedule with COT racecars by 2008.

The original plan NASCAR developed after consulting with team owners called for a three-year phase-in of the new car, beginning with 16 of the 36 races in 2007 featuring it. The current plan calls for 26 of the 36 races in ‘08 to be run with COT cars, with a full schedule to follow in ‘09.

Now, Darby is saying the full slate of COT races could be coming a full year sooner.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens at Bristol on March 25th, as far as the first race this year using the COT. The spin they’re putting on the early testing results is that teams and drivers are coming around and warming up to the COT, which might explain such talk as above.

Whether that’s reality or not, we shall see. But it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the switch happens quickly and is pretty painless, especially when teams are faced with the alternative of having to run two different programs while in limbo-land for a few years, straddling the current cars and the COT.

Whether they love the COT or not, the writing seems to be on the wall, so it’s likely going to be a rip-the-bandage-off-and-get-it-over-with-quickly sort of deal, regardless of whether drivers and teams love it or hate it. In the end, it’s just a car, and it’s not like they’re switching from horse-drawn carriages to jet-fueled MikeyMobiles.



Comments

4 Comments so far

  1. racefan57 on March 1, 2007 4:02 am

    Bring it on!! A 3 year roll out plan is a bit stretched and by the the looks and what I heard from yesterdays testing, most drivers are ready and accepting the change.

  2. gvav1 on March 1, 2007 4:10 am

    I’m excited about the COT!

  3. Darren on March 1, 2007 12:04 pm

    I’m stoked to see them race at Bristol. I want to see how one of them wings look after getting it smashed into the wall.

    That’ll be good for another debris caution for sure.

  4. Tiredawg on March 2, 2007 5:33 am

    What’s the big deal??? Bring it on. It is just only another race car.

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