FYI: Car of Tomorrow

• Key aspects of the Car of Tomorrow:
New Era | More Competition | Driver Safety | Cost Management

• Video: Bodine discusses differences of COT
NASCAR's Director of Cost Research and Special Projects, Brett Bodine, explains the differences between the stock car of today and the Car of Tomorrow, which made its debut at Bristol.
→ Launch video, click here

• What's Your Job? COT inspection
NASCAR officials explain the ins and outs -- the nuts and bolts -- of the Car of Tomorrow's thorough inspection process through a series of 30 images accompanied by in-depth description.
→ Launch audio slideshow, click here

• Unknowns remain with car of today
It's no longer the COT, but the standard NASCAR chassis. But to the men who drive it and those who work on it every day, it is still a work in progress.
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• Drivers still have concerns as COT goes full time
Other than a test at Atlanta in October, drivers don't have much experience in the new car on intermediate speedways.
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• Team from Argentina building a COT
For the first time in Cup history, a competition car is being built outside the U.S., and the Argentina-based team is following all guidelines set for the COT.
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• Dodge switches to Charger as COT model
Dodge will race the Charger in the Sprint Cup Series in 2008 and beyond. The Avenger had been used as the make's Car of Tomorrow model in 2007.
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• Technology trumps driver suggestions
With the COT being the only racecar in NASCAR's top series next year, technology will take on an even bigger role in determining race setups.
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• McCarthy: The why's and where's of the COT
After 2007, we all know what to make of the COT. What we do not yet know is what to make it into. That we'll learn soon enough, writes Tom McCarthy.
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• IMPAXX in COT wins safety award
Dow Automotive IMPAXX energy absorbing foam, used in the Car of Tomorrow, was named the Safety Innovation of the Year.
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• Hard to pass
Greg Biffle said much of the problem with passing lies with the Car of Tomorrow. For one thing, all of the cars are running equal speeds.
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• Nationwide Series plans to run COT chassis in 2009
NASCAR officials confirmed plans to have a Car of Tomorrow chassis in place for the 2009 Nationwide Series season.
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• Aumann: Cautions hard on COT at Martinsville
Too many cautions and too few possibilities to pass made for a frustrating race for the drivers at Martinsville.
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• Johnson, Gordon learn much about how COT bangs
Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon didn't know much about the COT when they battled to the finish at Martinsville. They know more, now.
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• Biffle often baffled by COT, but happy with progress
Greg Biffle wasn't sure about the Car of Tomorrow program at Roush Fenway Racing. But recent progress has him feeling good about both.
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• Drivers feel COT may lead to more accidents at 'Dega
The Car of Tomorrow has apparently done little to ease those fears of the multi-car accident at Talladega.
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• Rear wing on COT creating vision issues for drivers
Where the rear-wing sits in relation to the rear window is creating serious sight issues for the drivers as they try to draft at Talladega.
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• COTs ready, Chase drivers brace for unknown
First it was Dover, then Kansas. Now Talladega looms. And with the COT making its debut, all bets -- in typical 'Dega fashion -- are off.
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• Inside the Garage: Gil Martin
Talladega has always presented enough challenges as it is, now the COT adds another dimension when it races on a restrictor-plate track for the first time.
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• Inside the Halls of Petty: Preparing for COT at 'Dega
Billy Wilburn, crew chief for the No. 45 Dodge, looks at differences between the new car and the old car at restrictor-plate tracks.
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• Inside the Halls of Petty: First 'Dega, then Daytona
Robbie Loomis expects the Dodge Avenger COT to change the way races are run at Talladega and Daytona.
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• Notes: Strong runs don't soothe thoughts on COT
Despite finishing third and 11th respectively at Dover, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon didn't have kind words for the performance of their COT cars afterward.
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• Hamlin leads test as drivers acclimate COT to 'Dega
Drivers took part in the first test at Talladega, which will host the series' first Car of Tomorrow restrictor-place event in October. And curiosity ruled, both under the hood and in the driver's seat.
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• Burton, Kenseth charging but moaning about COT
Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton came from deep in the field to post top-10 finishes Sunday in New Hampshire but the former teammates weren't too thrilled with the performance of the Car of Tomorrow during the race weekend.
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• McCarthy: COT passing in places, struggling in others
In safety and comeptitiveness, the COT has passed with flying colors, but there are still some areas the new car needs a little work.
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• Vickers disqualified after car deemed to be too low
Brian Vickers qualified his car based on speed at New Hampshire, but in post-qualifying inspection officials deemed the car to be too low and Vickers was sent home. It all left crew chief Doug Richert baffled.
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• Caraviello: NASCAR crew chiefs face impossible decisions
If the car's no good, you get blamed. If the driver's no good, you get fired. You're expected to find inventive ways of improving your vehicle's performance, but risk fines and suspensions if NASCAR thinks you've pushed things too far.
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• Menzer: NASCAR had no choice in assessing penalties
NASCAR had little or no choice but to levy the exact same penalties it laid on the No. 8 team to send a very clear message that messing with the Car of Tomorrow will not be tolerated today or any day.
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• Gordon, Johnson lose 100 points, crew chiefs for six races
As expected NASCAR levied further penalties against the teams of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson on Tuesday by announcing each driver would be docked 100 points and their crew chiefs suspended six races for COT violations.
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• Hendrick drivers preparing to face NASCAR's wrath
Hendrick Motorsports is hoping for some leniency from NASCAR -- but not really expecting it. Given the harsh stance NASCAR has taken on Car of Tomorrow violators tougher punishment almost certainly looms ahead.
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• Hendrick: COT's gray area should be better defined
Owner Rick Hendrick ardently defended two of his four race teams and believes crew chiefs did not bend the rules after the COTs of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson failed inspection at Sonoma.
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• Gordon, Johnson fail initial qual inspection at Sonoma
While everyone else practiced and qualified, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson watched. Both drivers were parked when NASCAR officials discovered a rules infraction on their COTs at Sonoma.
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• Exhibit takes fan through stock-car history to COT
NASCAR's Back to the Future stock-car exhibit at Lowe's Motor Speedway is an opportunity for fans to see the history of the stock car and the similarities between the COT and the cars of old.
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• Roush upset with approach to COT testing
Car owner jack Roush admits he didn't test the COT like other teams, but he assures everyone that won't be the case from here on out.
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• Teams embrace new COT timetable
NASCAR has scrapped its planned three-year rollout and will fully implement the new, winged vehicle next season. That seems just fine with team owners. Right now they're spending money to develop and race the COT as well as the standard car, which will become obsolete after this year's season finale.
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• COT will be used full time in '08
NASCAR announced May 22 that the Car of Tomorrow will be fully implemented for the 2008 season. The move accelerates the integration of the new car into the series by one full year. In January 2006, NASCAR had announced a three-year roll-out schedule that would conclude with the new car running in every race by 2009.
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• Evernham likes opportunities COT allows
Ray Evernham, an early opponent of the Car of Tomorrow, now supports the idea and said that he understands the need for it. "We've got to have a lot more black-and-white [rules], and the Car of Tomorrow is the start of that."
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• Weber: Biffle optimistic despite COT struggles
Greg Biffle says the Roush Fenway organization stopped working on preparing the COT because the car kept changing. The chassis, the greenhouse, they were spending time and money on a car that wasn't ever going to see the track.
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• McCarthy: COTomorrow vs. COToday
Let's compare this year's Darlington COT race to last year's Darlington race with the current car. That's 673 quality passes for this year vs. 309 in 2006 -- more than twice as many. Advantage: COT.
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• Inside the Garage: Berrier on the COT
Todd Berrier, crew chief for the No. 29 Chevrolet and Kevin Harvick, has had his concerns with the Car of Tomorrow and doesn't expect it put on a very exciting race at Darlington.
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• Inside the Halls of Petty: COT at Darlington
Darlington will be another stern test for the COT. It will be interesting to see how these cars drive when the tires get worn. The "Lady in Black" is notoriously hard on tires. This year will be no different.
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• McCarthy: Roush, Ford lagging behind
Through four Car of Tomorrow races one thing is abundantly clear: Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet lead the way. Another certainty is this: Roush Fenway Racing and Ford have some work to do.
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• Penske brings home pair of top-10s at Richmond
Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch started 30th and 33rd, respectively, at Richmond, but both brought their Penske Racing COTs home in the top 10. Team owner Roger Penske favors going all-COT sooner than later.
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• Wyler Racing off to good start in COT
Wyler Racing thought the Car of Tomorrow was something that could usher them toward, if not into the Nextel Cup Series. The team is off to a good start after qualifying in its season debut at Richmond.
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• Green helps put HMS on COT fast track
David Green didn't get a piece of the trophy when Hendrick Motorsports swept the first three COT races, but what he did get, though, has probably meant far more to him both personally and professionally.
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• McCarthy: Time to come to grips
In the wake of the latest Car of Tomorrow race, we're all coming to grips with the emerging realities of the COT. That is, according to Tom McCarthy, if we embrace change as a good thing.
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• Chevrolet still the driving force
With its common body template, the COT was supposed to give smaller teams a better opportunity to compete with larger ones. But the big teams -- especially ones with Chevrolet power under the hood -- have the advantage.
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• Hamlin has good COT, bad luck
Denny Hamlin is tired of the COT ... tired of having somebody else take home the trophy. "It's frustrating to have the best car three Car of Tomorrow races in a row and not have a win to show for it," Hamlin said.
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• Time to see if COT will take to heavy air
Phoenix poses the first real trial of the COT's aerodynamics, something only tangentially tested on the half-mile circuits. And it should provide a glimpse of how the vehicle will fare on even bigger tracks.
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• Some find car switching to be a challenge
Implementing the Car of Tomorrow into NASCAR over a three-year period means drivers have to go back-and-forth between two different cars. For some drivers, the switch is more challenging than they anticipated.
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• Inside the Garage: Todd Berrier
When the Nextel Cup Series returns to Phoenix in the Car of Tomorrow, gone will be the advantages under the hood and in the shop that crew chief Todd Berrier's bunch created last year for Kevin Harvick, who swept both events.
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• Inside the Halls of Petty: COT aerodynamics
Phoenix is the race that most drivers and crew chiefs have had circled as one where we will really know what we are dealing with in regards to the COT. It is a 1-mile track where aerodynamics come into play.
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• Caraviello: Listen to the drivers
Instead of criticizing drivers when they have complaints, David Caraviello thinks people should listen to what they have to say, or else the consequences could be tragic.
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• Q&A: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
With more COT testing at Richmond, Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he's happy with the COT and the more they drive them, the more NASCAR will know what adjustments need to be made.
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• NASCAR orders changes for safety foam
NASCAR will issue a technical bulletin prior to the next Car of Tomorrow race advising Nextel Cup teams to reconfigure the area around the protective foam on the right side of the vehicle.
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• Q&A: Greg Biffle
While the Car of Tomorrow reconvened at Richmond International Raceway for more on-track testing, much of the talk centered on the safety foam and other heat-related issues.
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• Rule-makers easy going during transition
It wasn't until after I spent the weekend thinking about how fans, drivers and teams have begun to wrestle with the reality of the Car of Tomorrow that I understood ... It's all those lines.
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• Cross' Words: Martinsville
Is there a happy median for the Car of Tomorrow? There will be a point where NASCAR and the drivers settle -- for better or worse -- on the COT. Maybe the question should be: Which side will give the most?
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• Weekend That Was: Martinsville
The bumpers in the new Car of Tomorrow machines that were used in the Martinsville race, as well as the Bristol race the previous week, line up in such a way that it is more difficult to spin out the car riding in front.
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• COT moves on to Richmond for testing
Many teams plan to use what was their Martinsville backup car as one of the two they'll test at Richmond, where the Car of Tomorrow underwent its first on-track test in the summer of 2004.
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• Some teams upset with COT's brake system
There were enough issues in brake packages to prove the ongoing development and fine-tuning of the Car of Tomorrow, which Sunday at Martinsville was raced for only the second time, will continue for quite some time.
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• Concern over safety foam still burns
Three teams reported problems last weekend, when the COT debuted at Bristol. On Sunday, the foam in Kevin Harvick's car started melting for reasons officials are still trying to figure out.
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• Brake systems a concern for some
Tight, tricky Martinsville Speedway has always been known as the greatest challenge for braking systems, but according to Elliott Sadler, preparation and knowledge should prevent teams from having any issues in Sunday's race.
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• Notes: No rule to penalize Biffle for failed inspection
Crew chief Pat Tryson was relieved to find that the No. 16 car of his driver, Greg Biffle, was not penalized by NASCAR for being too low in post-race inspection last Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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• Exhaust, ride height top NASCAR's worry with COT
The Car of Tomorrow is supposed to be the safest vehicle ever used in NASCAR, but some drivers were exposed to dangerous carbon monoxide fumes when their exhaust systems failed in last week's debut.
→ Complete story, click here

• Caraviello: COT has look similar to the 70s
There are plenty of racers and race fans who feel a swirl of negative emotion when confronted with the COT ... no matter that a Cup car with a rear wing broke one of the most coveted records in motorsports.
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• Track Smack: The first COT is in the books
How will the Car of Tomorrow play at Martinsville? The Smackers expect a race similar to the one at Bristol, especially considering how the project remains in a transition stage.
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• Inside the Halls of Petty: Good COT start
The first Car of Tomorrow race is in the books. It was another exciting Bristol race. The new car was a big test for everyone. Petty Enterprises had a solid weekend. We now have to focus on improving at Martinsville.
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• Inside the Garage: Doug Richert
Things are looking up for Brian Vickers and crew chief Doug Richert, as the team has made the field in two consecutive races and is coming off a 15th-place finish at Bristol in the Car of Tomorrow.
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• Business: What's the COST of the COT?
Following Kyle Busch's victory, Rick Hendrick joined driver and crew chief in the post-race media conferences, where he was hit with the following question: What was the cost of this car, to make a winner out of it?
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• Weekend That Was: Bristol
To fully understand where NASCAR might be headed with the Car of Tomorrow, a little reminiscing about the Car of Yesterday is in order. Yes, the Car of Tomorrow offers a colorful glimpse of NASCAR's past.
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• Cross' Words: Bristol
Imagine that -- the COT did not bring a spike in global warming, a swarm of locusts or any of the other Chicken Little scenarios many had openly feared. In fact, the COT's debut was as successful as NASCAR could have hoped.
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• Win the race, then rip on the COT? Enough already
Kyle Busch wanted to share his COT analysis on camera, and he did. But what Tom McCarthy can't understand is why some of the best drivers in the world keep complaining about the new machine.
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• One race not enough to judge COT
The success or failure of NASCAR's much-anticipated Car of Tomorrow cannot be determinted in one race. While some drivers said that it wasn't that big of a deal, most added that it's too soon to judge one way or another.
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• McMurray, Biffle headline Ford COT
Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle haven't been the headliners they hoped to be in the Roush Fenway Racing garage so far in 2007. But both posted their highest finishes this season in the COT debut at Bristol.
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• Caraviello: Big loser in COT debut was Bristol
Kyle Busch jumped out of his Car of Tomorrow after winning the debut of NASCAR's newest innovation Sunday and promptly told the world what he thought of it. David Caraviello says the biggest loser was Bristol.
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Notebook: Biffle's car fails COT inspection
Greg Biffle's No. 16 Ford was too low in post-race inspection. NASCAR will take the car back to the R&D Center and do a more thorough inspection to see if it is, in fact, below the minimum height requirement.
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• Notebook: Double-dipping not so helpful
This weekend at Bristol, 19 drivers will take part in both the Busch Series and Nextel Cup races. For the first time, these drivers will be driving two completely different racecars with the debut of the Car of Tomorrow in the Sunday's Food City 500.
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• Questions remain after day of practice, quals
With one Car of Tomorrow practice and now qualifying under the drivers' belts, one might think some questions have been answered as Sunday's race approaches. One would be wrong.
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• Gordon wins pole for COT debut at Bristol
The Chevrolet Impala was better than the Dodge Avenger in qualifying, as the new Car of Tomorrow models of Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, respectively, will start on the front row at Bristol.
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• Inspection process OK ... for some
Inspection for the COT took most teams as long as six hours on Thursday. The process was rough on the crewmembers' patience, but Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said everything seemed perfectly fine.
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• The five stages of the COT inspection process
The 42 Dodge team took advantage of an extra day allowed by NASCAR to go through COT inspection at Bristol Motor Speedway. It's a process that requires five stages and several hours.
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• Teams starting to increase COT fleets at right time
Five of the next seven Nextel Cup races will feature the Car of Tomorrow. The good thing for teams is that most of them are prepared for the drastic change and continue to increase their garages with the new spec machines.
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• Stewart says COT could be a factor in championship
The Car of Tomorrow has arrived. And Tony Stewart still doesn't like it. He also says whichever team is first to stumble onto the right combination has an advantage to win this year's championship.
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• Smaller teams discover salvation has its price
It has been said the Car of Tomorrow will close the gap, competitively and financially, between the haves and the have-nots. Perhaps, in the long run. But not early on, and possibly not at all if the car is as fragile as some fear.
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• By the Numbers: Bristol and the COT
Bristol is unlike any other track in NASCAR. The Car of Tomorrow is unlike ... well, you've heard the stories. Put the two of them together and this week's Food City 500 becomes an even greater variable.
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• Head2Head: Car of Tomorrow
This week's hot-button debate focuses on the Car of Tomorrow, which will make its debut at Bristol. Will the COT make for better racing? Will it be safer than the current stock car?
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• Inside the Halls of Petty: The wait is over
Hey guys, Robbie Loomis again. That red-letter date that everyone has circled on their calendars is here. This weekend the Car of Tomorrow will become the Car of Today. We're prepared for this weekend.
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• From the Pit Box: Roy McCauley
Kurt Busch has posted one-third of his career victories -- including his first and thus far only victory in the No. 2. Dodge -- at Bristol, where this year the much talked about COT debuts. Crew chief Roy McCauley had his say, too.
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• Q&A: Robbie Reiser
Robbie Reiser returns to No. 17 team with the Car of Tomorrow at Bristol Motor Speedway. But Matt Kenseth's longtime crew chief doesn't think the COT changes things that much.
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• After years of anticipation, Car of Tomorrow a reality
The time for panic is past. The Car of Tomorrow, a project seven years in the making that promises a safer, more competitive racing environment, becomes a reality March 25 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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• New COT setups more like old-school racing
Just like the front splitter that slices through the air, and just like the rear wing that sticks up 6 inches off the deck lid, the largest growing pain in transforming to the COT may be building a new notebook.
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• Darby: COT may be the 'Car of Today' in 2008

The Car of Tomorrow may become the Car of Today much sooner than anyone originally envisioned. Nextel Cup Series director John Darby said that he expects teams to run a full schedule with COT racecars by 2008.
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• Car of Tomorrow on track for Bristol debut
The culmination of a seven-year project undertaken at NASCAR's Research and Development Center had three primary objectives: driver safety; improved performance and competition; and more efficient cost-management for the teams.
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• Nelson not worried about Car of Tomorrow critics
Gary Nelson oversaw the Car of Tomorrow project and although he no longer works for NASCAR, he's directly involved in the decision-making as the machine nears its debut at Bristol in March.
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