FanHouse CarofTomorrow

NASCAR officials apparently took the night off Saturday night in Charlotte after judging the comments made the sport's vice president of competition.

Robin Pemberton told the NASCAR Scene Monday that NASCAR is "staying the course" with the current rules package on the now-full time Car of Tomorrow package:

"We're going to remain firm on our rules," Pemberton said. "There's no rule changes coming along."

Pemberton said NASCAR usually talks with teams about the following season's rules from mid-August to early September. Talks this year indicated teams wanted the rules to remain constant from year to year.

"We're pleased with the progress teams have made," Pemberton said. "As the teams have made their improvements, maybe early on they were looking for rule changes, but as they found things to get their drivers and teams competitive, they have come back and said, 'OK, let's stay the course on the rules and regulations, and we'll get another year under their belt.'"

I've gotta say, after watching Saturday night's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- a track that bears similarities to a good portion of the tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule -- this is a complete mistake, even if the teams were supposedly on board with it.

Kyle Busch will start on the pole for Sunday's Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway, but he certainly won't be dissing NASCAR's newest car this weekend.

NASCAR held an unusual meeting with drivers and car owners one half hour prior to the morning's first practice Friday to lay down the law on what drivers need to be saying about the Car of Tomorrow project.

That's Racin's David Poole called it a "Come to Jesus"-style meeting.

Many drivers wouldn't even discuss it.

But what we do know is that NASCAR made it clear that its simply tired of hearing the constant negativity about the performance of the car being used for the first time on full time in 2008.

A key message of the meeting apparently was that NASCAR fans are being let down by the constant bashing, and that they shouldn't be subject to that for coming to a spectator event for enjoyment. There must have been enforcement policies laid down because hardly a soul was giving deep info about the get-together.

To me, telling the teams they should handle a problematic situation by putting on the rose-colored glasses doesn't seem like an effective way to solve problems. Doubly, as a NASCAR fan, it shows me that NASCAR truly has reached a point where it cannot make any legitimate changes in the near future to increase the quality of Sprint Cup racing on the new vehicle.

At least I've never heard of censorship helping a cars downforce in a pack of traffic.

The rains came after 11 drivers got on track during the qualifying session, leaving the rulebook to decide where teams would start Sunday's race. That leaves Jeff Burton on the outside pole with Jason Leffler and Tony Raines heading home.

I first noticed the phenomenon last week at Darlington, and boy, was it ever noticeable in Saturday night's Sprint All-Star Race XXIV at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

That phenomenon? NASCAR Sprint Cup cars driving down the straightaway sideways.

Yes, the "Car of Tomorrow" was designed to reduce the amount of tweaks that a team could do to the body and frame settings of the car as it traveled down the track. NASCAR wanted to rope in the gray areas of the rulebook that permitted teams to essentially build a race car that resembled a wave more than an arrow.

Teams trying to find the newest edge with the new car design have seemingly stumbled across a way to make a car faster by jogging the rear end out to the right side of the car, causing a "crab walk" effect as it drives down the straightaway. Literally speaking, if one was to stand in front of the car, you could plainly see the right rear tire.

NASCAR -- outfoxed on the rules for its new car -- has decided to take a stance and force the teams to take out the awkward rear ends to a certain degree.

Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said Saturday that teams will get a memo, likely this week, telling them to "clean up" the way they're turning their wheels to help the cars handle better.

"They need some of that, but there are some of them that have pushed it," Darby said.

Good for NASCAR on this one, I say. Frankly, the dirt track-type look on the straightaway isn't very visually appealing.

But I do think NASCAR is probably just getting to the tip of the ice berg in terms of the new car.

Friday afternoon, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gets down to business at Daytona with the first round of practice for the Budweiser Shootout, scheduled for 8:30pm/ET Saturday night on FOX. NASCAR Fanhouse will countdown the days with a look at the five stories that will rule the sport in 2008.

Car of Tomorrow. Car of Today. COT. Slot car. Ugly. Terrible.

Pick one or pick 'em all. They were and still continue to be widely-used descriptions of the new race car that NASCAR unveiled for limited use in 2007.

In 2008, the next-generation race car, makes its first foray into the full-time world of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing. And for heaven sakes, can we finally avoid referring to the car as a sleeping location or as the Car of Today because that frankly isn't funny.

Anyways...

Many are worried that 2008 will bring a new era to NASCAR racing that can only lead in one direction that isn't up. They worry about the handling of the car, the lack of adjustment, drivers not understanding the cars, and the overall appearance of the new model. Those combined, say the naysayers, will lead to terrible racing and lower TV ratings.

Since when, though, has NASCAR ever truly been about the technology involved?

The Essentials
Coverage: ESPN on ABC @ 3:00pm/ET
Green Flag: 3:45pm/ET
Distance: 312 laps/312 miles/500 kilometers
Other: Follow it on ESPN360 if available
Venue: Phoenix Int'l Raceway, sold out

Keep These in Mind...
1) Chasing Dreams - The second-to-last round of the Jeff and Jimmie Show: 2007 gets underway with the green flag. It's simple, Jeff Gordon has to overcome a 30-point margin in the next two races to win his fifth Nextel Cup title. Johnson has to beat him to claim his second.

Johnson averages a finish of one spot higher than Gordon at Phoenix, but Gordon was the last to win at the track in April.

2) Three-peat? Kyle Busch could become the first driver in NASCAR history to win in all three divisions on the same weekend. Busch took the victory in Friday night's Craftsman Truck Series race and followed that up with a Busch Series win Saturday night at PIR.

He starts 38th Sunday at Phoenix in the Nextel Cup race.

3) A Flavor of Indy in the Desert - For just the third time in history (thanks, Jayski!), three former winners of the Indianapolis 500 are in Sunday's race. Sam Hornish Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, and Jacques Villeneuve all made the field.

Add in former open wheel drivers Patrick Carpentier, Casey Mears, Robby Gordon, and Tony Stewart and you see very quickly how quickly NASCAR has become the all-around proving ground for drivers.

4) Truex Strong in Practice - Martin Truex Jr. starts second at Phoenix but had the car to beat in Happy Hour practice yesterday. He ran the fastest lap of the session, followed by Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears, David Stremme and Jeff Gordon.

Chase point leader Jimmie Johnson was seventh on the time sheet.

Is this finally ending?

Have we finally reached a point where writers and bloggers won't have to follow Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s every move?

It sure seems so -- as Dale Earnhardt Jr. has finally made laps in a Hendrick Motorsports car (and not because a Shrub ditched the track).

Junior got his second take of Hendrick Motorsports power and chassis Monday and Tuesday during a test session at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the next-generation car that will be sported throughout the Sprint Cup Series in 2008.

Because his current contracts aren't up -- specifically with Budweiser -- Junior drove a red and white No. 5 painted up like the first car that team owner Rick Hendrick ever backed in Cup competition. That car featured Hendrick Motorsports original name of "All-Star Racing" on the rear quarter-panels and "Chevy City" on the hood -- one of Hendrick's car dealerships during those days.

Dale Jr. will drive the No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard Chevrolet Impala for Hendrick Motorsports in 2008.

That didn't take long.

NASCAR confirmed Sunday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway that they will switch to the new generation race car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The new car (I'm tired of calling it the Car of Tomorrow when its here today) will be raced full-time in the top NASCAR series next season.

"We're working on an '09 [Nationwide] car," Bodine said. "[Having it ready for] '09 is tentative. It's not set in stone but we're working on it. We've informed some of the Busch owners and we've got a prototype at the R&D center."

"There will be a different body style and different aerodynamic package," Bodine said. "We're working on all that stuff. We're just not there yet, still working through all that process.

Sporting several new safety features, a rear wing, and a front splitter, the next generation chassis and body style brought hope that NASCAR would finally apply some clarity and definition between the Sprint Cup Series and the Nationwide Series.

Instead, NASCAR will revert back to the old thinking of running two series that are hardly different, which will continue to lead to insane amounts of Cup regulars parading the Nationwide Series (formerly Busch).

The safety additions are without a doubt a good idea, but let's hope Bodine is right in that they will use a different body style and aerodynamics.

What happened to this fun idea?

It doesn't seem that the problem of carbon monoxide (CO) exposure in the car of tomorrow gotten any better since the problem was exposed after the car's debut in Bristol.

On Monday, David Stremme was forced to relinquish the wheel of his #40 Coors Light Dodge two thirds into the race because he was ill, complaining of headaches.

Stremme claimed to be suffering from a sore throat and flu-like symptoms since Friday, but upon evaluation in the infield care center his blood showed elevated levels of carbon monoxide.

What's it gonna take to get safety-conscious NASCAR's attention focused on this issue?

Another driver forced to retire?

Or a death?

You can't see or smell carbon monoxide, but at high levels it can kill a person in minutes ... Hundreds of people die accidentally every year from CO poisoning caused by malfunctioning.
~ Environmental Protection Agency

Jimmie Johnson has won the fourth of four car of tomorrow races for Hendrick Motorsports and his fourth win for the 2007 season.

Please hold while I try to muster up some excitement ...

At what point will Hendrick wins cease to become news? They are an incredible 7 for 10 on the season so far and have already celebrated a major milestone this year.

Despite my love for everything Earnhardt, I still have a lot of respect for Mr. Hendrick and HMS as a whole, so I certainly don't want to take anything away from their accomplishments.

It's just that after a while it gets B-O-R-I-N-G.

But great job all day by JJ and his teammates Kyle Busch, who rallied to a 2nd place finish from after starting in 34th, and Jeff Gordon , who finished 4th.

Casey Mears, who hasn't fared as well as his teammates all season, managed to pull off an 18th place finish despite some bad luck early in the race. He holds on to a spot in the top 35, moving up one to 34th.

NASCAR said this weekend that the tentative schedule for the Car of Tomorrow program is up to the teams for next season. Currently, the COT is supposed to appear in 29 races next year after 16 this year. A full schedule is planned for 2009.

Several teams have suggested that they would like to see the COT run full-time next season so they can get away backing two different programs for one series.

Jeff Green would especially happy with the move, considering his Best Buy car has earned two top ten finishes in the three COT races this season.

"Like I've been saying, we just seem to have a better handle on the COT than the other car," said Green.

I say bring on the COT and let's get back to focusing on racing. It's only going to hurt the lower-revenued teams by forcing them to stay competitive with two types of race cars.

And I'm starting to enjoy the visual aspects of the new car, as well.