January 25, 2007

By Rebecca Gladden

Rebecca Gladden

NASCAR CEO Brian France announced several changes Monday to the NASCAR Chase for the Championship points system, including boosting the number of contenders from ten to twelve, and seeding drivers based in part on the number of victories they score during the first 26 races.

Though the modifications are significant, they may not represent the biggest change to this year's Chase.

In fact, there is another variable with the potential for an even bigger impact on the 2007 Chase, though it has not received nearly as much attention.

This season for the first time ever, five of the year's final ten races - that playoff period dubbed the Chase for the Championship - will be run with NASCAR's new competition vehicle known as the Car of Tomorrow.

The fledgling COT is expected to be phased in over a three-year period beginning with 16 of 36 races this season, 26 races in 2008, and all 36 races in 2009.

Below is the schedule for this year's Chase along with an indication of which car - the current Cup car or the COT - is expected to be run in each race:

Sep 16 New Hampshire International Speedway - Car of Tomorrow
Sep 23 Dover International Speedway - Car of Tomorrow
Sep 30 Kansas Speedway - Current Cup car
Oct 7 Talladega Superspeedway - Car of Tomorrow
Oct 13 Lowe's Motor Speedway - Current Cup car
Oct 21 Martinsville Speedway - Car of Tomorrow
Oct 28 Atlanta Motor Speedway - Current Cup car
Nov 4 Texas Motor Speedway - Current Cup car
Nov 11 Phoenix International Raceway - Car of Tomorrow
Nov 18 Homestead-Miami Speedway - Current Cup car

Finding an effective set up for the car - not-so-affectionately nicknamed "The Flying Brick" by two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart - will present an enormous challenge this season, especially as the competitive pressure mounts in the Chase. Drivers will also need to adapt quickly to the car's different feel and handling.

The intent behind the new vehicle has been three-fold, according to NASCAR President Mike Helton: "The Car of Tomorrow represents one of the sport's most significant innovations, and we feel everyone involved in NASCAR will experience the benefits. No subject is more important than safety, and while the Car of Tomorrow was built around safety considerations, the competition and cost improvements will prove vital as well."

In testing, however, the COT has met with mixed reviews at best.

Penske driver Kurt Busch, who had an opportunity to drive the car during Cup testing this month at Daytona, was pleased with the vehicle from the standpoint of both looks and safety. "I guess everybody knows me. I've always been against the grain. I really enjoy new challenges," said Busch. "I'm a car guy. From my dad, he taught me how to build race cars and to see NASCAR's direction with this Car of Tomorrow. Safety is the number one quality within this car - the way they've crash tested it and the different foam they've inserted in this car, the different flame resistant materials. All around, safety is positive with this car. Second, it's a throwback to some of the older heritage of racing stock cars. With the front end geometry it's not as aggressive as what we have these days with the regular car."

While the Penske drivers were getting an early feel for the COT at Daytona, most teams opted not to test the car on the restrictor plate track. "We're going to start working with it to get ahead of the game," explained Busch. "Roger Penske is definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to getting cars prepared. We just need to know what to do with them. We're here testing, getting ahead of the game, we believe."

As the new season unfolds, it will be vital that teams and drivers adjust quickly to the new car, noted Busch: "The testing I've seen with it, it's going to be a matter of adapting to new change. There are so many questions with this car as how you need to set it up or what direction you need to take it in. It's a matter of being able to adapt. There are guys like Tony Stewart that can drive anything with four wheels. There are guys like Jeff Gordon that can do that and adapt to cars, but yet Gordon has been driving Cup cars for so long, it'll be interesting to see how he jumps in. There's going to be no problem with Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing or Penske Racing - any of the big teams."

But both Gordon and Stewart have been outspoken critics of the car. "I'm just not a big fan of the way the car looks," Gordon said during preseason testing. "Some of that relates to performance and some of it doesn't. If the car gets on the race track and we put on an awesome race, NASCAR is going to look like heroes. But up until that point, it's easy to criticize that car for many reasons. I think if it was up to the teams and drivers and crew chiefs, we would like to see this car thoroughly tested more this year. I think we recognize now how serious NASCAR is about this car, and that it's definitely coming. We all would like to be just starting out the season in 2008 and not run it at all in 2007. There is a long list of reasons why I think we're in favor of that. Not to mention just every team out there having to build two cars. It's kind of crazy. From what testing I've done with the car, I haven't seen where it's offering up what they're hoping for."

Nevertheless, NASCAR is on track with its timetable to introduce the car at the March Cup race in Bristol and then run it periodically throughout the season, including the five playoff races noted above.

Of particular interest is the fall restrictor plate race at Talladega, normally viewed as the biggest wildcard in the Chase. Adding the COT to that mix will create a new level of tension for teams already under considerable pressure, particularly as the vehicle continues to be phased in over time.

On the other hand, at least one of last year's Chase competitors is taking the COT controversy in stride. "The NASCAR community doesn't like change very much and the unknown scares a great deal of us," said Jeff Burton during Daytona testing.

"There has been a tremendous amount of whining and complaining about it, (but) if you take all these teams in this garage and put them in Pintos, you'd have a hell of a race. The competition is fierce and the desire to win is fierce among companies, and I think it's going to be fine."

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.