April 23, 2010
By Rebecca Gladden
In 2007, NASCAR introduced its pet project of the 2000s, the Car of Tomorrow, to Cup competition on a part-time basis. In 2008, the COT went full-time, and the car of the future effectively became the Car of Today.
The COT had been in Research and Development for several years, touted as a safer vehicle that would also save teams money because of its versatility.
But its physical appearance - taller, boxier, less sporty-looking than the old car - generated a cold reception from many fans and drivers.
When Kyle Busch won the first-ever COT race at Bristol in March of 2007, he was asked in Victory Lane his opinion of the car. Despite just winning the race, Busch promptly declared, "I'm still not a big fan of these things. I can't stand to drive them. They suck."
Busch wasn't the first Cup driver to express disdain for the car. After testing it in 2006, Tony Stewart nicknamed it the "flying brick." Dale Earnhardt Jr. commented, "It doesn't look racy. It doesn't look exciting. It doesn't make me want to go buy a Chevrolet tomorrow. It doesn't make me excited about walking up to it. You take show cars to a gas station to get people excited to stop and buy gas and look at the car. With that thing, nobody's going to pull over." Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, and other top-tier drivers also criticized the car's looks, its lack of handling and overall raciness.
I suppose that's all water under the bridge now, since the COT appears to be here to stay. NASCAR did finally bend to pressure this year by replacing the wing on the car's rear deck lid with a spoiler, a nod to the pre-COT model.
Overall, how has the Car of Tomorrow changed the career paths of some of NASCAR's top stars? Take a look at this data, courtesy of Jayski.com, detailing how some drivers fared in the winged-COT era. I have added their total wins and number of wins in the old car:
Jimmie Johnson:
Total Wins: 50 Old car wins: 28 COT wins: 22
Kyle Busch:
Total Wins: 16 Old car wins: 3 COT wins: 13
Tony Stewart:
Total Wins: 37 Old car wins: 31 COT wins: 6
Jeff Gordon:
Total Wins: 82 Old car wins: 78 COT wins: 4
Matt Kenseth:
Total Wins: 18 Old car wins: 16 COT wins: 2
Ryan Newman:
Total Wins: 14 Old car wins: 13 COT wins: 1
Greg Biffle:
Total Wins: 14 Old car wins: 12 COT wins: 2
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Total Wins: 18 Old car wins: 17 COT wins: 1
Of course, this statistical data is not all-encompassing. It doesn't take into account multiple other variables such as the length of time each driver was in the series pre-COT, the teams they have been with, and so on.
But it seems obvious to me that some of the biggest critics of the COT are the very drivers who've had the hardest time adapting to it - making the transition from the old car to the new one. Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, the two winningest drivers in the COT, have adjusted the best.
What do you think? Would the careers of Gordon, Earnhardt, Stewart, Kenseth and others be vastly different today if the COT had not entered the picture? Email or 'tweet' me and let me know your thoughts.
Follow Rebecca on Twitter: @nscrwriter
You can contact Rebecca at.. Insider Racing News
You Can Read Other Articles By Rebecca
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
