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Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that NASCAR’s “Car of Tomorrow” needs a tune-up. Earnhardt, who was in Atlanta to promote the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Labor Day weekend, said the car, which is now the exclusive vehicle on the Sprint Cup circuit, is safer than the previous car, but it’s not providing the close, competitive racing that fans have come to expect. |
All of the above info is courtesy of AutoRacingSport.
We agree with Jr. that the COT doesn’t excite the fans and it’s a turkey. NASCAR tries to call these cars Toyotas, Fords, Dodges and Chevys. But, those cars don’t resemble anything in the showrooms except for the decals. Spec racing has never been successful on a large scale in any racing series.
Jr. said the COT problem can be fixed. “I feel like we can take this race car and make it provide [exciting] races,” he said. “If I can be honest, I feel like NASCAR has seemingly been reluctant to let this car evolve more freely.” With the old conventional-style car, teams were allowed to modify the way the bodies were attached to the car and make changes to the chassis. But since the introduction of the new car, NASCAR has held a hard line, refusing to allow teams to alter the cars. Those who have tried have incurred stiff penalties.
Earnhardt said there’s plenty of expertise in the garage to make the COT a better racecar, but nothing’s being done, not even by the engineers who work for NASCAR. “[NASCAR officials] don’t seem as willing, even themselves, to produce a better race car that will put on the type of races that we all wish to see,” he said. “I feel like in a way we are holding ourselves back. We’re short-changing ourselves. “We have the technology and the people to build a car that will make for exciting racing — dramatic, side-by-side racing — that will sell tickets, excite fans and thrill people, but we have yet to pursue and try to obtain that.”
Earnhardt said one change that has been made recently — restarts of races with the leaders side-by-side at the front of the pack — is a positive move for drivers and fans. “I really, really enjoy the double-file restarts,” he said, adding that even though some people suspected the drivers themselves wouldn’t like the format, the opposite is true. “We’re just as hungry for some drama and excitement in our races as everyone else,” he said. “We’re as concerned about the health of the sport as anybody. It’s our livelihood.” Earnhardt also said he’s coping fine this year even though his on-track results have been disappointing. He’s 25th in points with just one top-five finish. “I’ve got a lot of good things going for me,” he said. “And I don’t feel like this is what the rest of my career is going to be like.”
A full time move to NASCAR by Danica Patrick probably won’t be the smartest thing that she can make at this juncture in her career. The transition of going from an open-wheel car to a heavy stockcar has seen many drivers over the years result in failure. Both her peer drivers in the Indy Cars and NASCAR have given Patrick plenty of warning. All feel that she should use caution. Instead of being a capable contender in the Indy Cars, Danica could end up getting lost in the NASCAR shuffle and hurt her reputation. We’ve had some discussions with drivers from short track to NASCAR’s top tier series regarding the transition from open wheel to the heavy NASCAR 3,800 lb. machines. It has a lot of risks and the percentage of drivers who successfully make the transition are low when you look back in the history of racing. Consider the fact that successful Indy Car drivers came to NASCAR in the past few years eager for the challenge only to return to the IRL, with their helmets in the hands, looking for a ride. We really wish her luck and if she is successful she’ll help NASCAR to sell a lot of tickets and sell a lot of goods and services for her sponsors in the short term. But, the pressure will be on her to produce right away in order to maintain her presence and popularity in NASCAR.
The Indianapolis News tells of Bruton Smith of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. being very unhappy about the Indy Racing League tilting more towards road courses than oval tracks when adding new events. His New Hampshire track got snubbed in 2010. Criticizing the IRL, Bruton cites the fact that the IRL’s two predecessors, CART and Champ Car World Series, went down the same road only to go “Belly Up” twice. Bruton wants an Indy Car race for his New Hampshire Motors Speedway and has committed his company to push hard to sell tickets to such an event. Smith’s efforts seem to be falling on deaf ears in the IRL front offices, though. Judging from fan reaction, in the Indianapolis News, they think that the current IRL management is hopeless. The mentality in the IRL management leaves us also wondering what happened to their logic?
ESPN’s live coverage of the rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race from Watkins Glen International earned a final national household coverage rating of 1.7, averaging 1,994,457 viewers. The telecast aired on Monday, Aug. 10, starting at 12:00 p.m./et after the race was rained out the previous day. ESPN earned a 2.0 rating for coverage on Sunday from 2:15 pm – 4:30 pm when the race was postponed. Two of ESPN’s three NASCAR Sprint Cup races so far this season have been run on Mondays after having been rained out on the originally-scheduled day. The NASCAR Nationwide Series race run at Watkins Glen on Saturday earned a final national household coverage rating of 1.5 on ESPN2, higher than the 1.4 earned for the race when it aired on ESPN2 in 2007. The race aired on ABC last year and had a 1.5 rating. The Nationwide Series telecast averaged 1,755,640 viewers.
Two NASCAR Camping World Series races are set to re-air on SPEED. Fans will get another opportunity to see this year’s NASCAR Camping World Series West race from Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., that featured a dual to the finish between Patrick Long and Joey Logano. Viewers will also get a chance to see the dramatic finish to the NASCAR Camping World Series East event from New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., in which developmental drivers Ryan Truex and Matt DiBenedetto battled for the win. In addition, some upcoming NASCAR Camping World Series races are slated for a special overnight re-air.
See schedule below for details:
TRACK EVENT DATE SCHEDULED TO AIR ON SPEED (Eastern Time)
Infineon 6/20/2009 Thursday Afternoon 9/17/09 @ 3:00 pm
New Hampshire 6/26/2009 Thursday Afternoon 9/3/09 @ 3:00 pm
Lime Rock 8/15/2009 Wednesday Overnight 9/23/09 @ 3:00 am
Iowa 9/4/2009 Thursday Afternoon 9/10/09 @ 3:00 pm
Iowa 9/42009 Wednesday Overnight 9/23/09 @ 4:00 am
New Hampshire 9/18/2009 Thursday Afternoon 9/24/09 @ 3:00 pm
New Hampshire 9/18/2009 Wednesday Overnight 9/30/09 @ 4:00 am
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Here’s what’s happening on the bob tube for gear head action this week through the weekend courtesy of RacefanTV and the Speed Channel. On Wednesday Speed offers the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour from Bristol at 7 p.m. followed by the NASCAR Camping World Trucks from the same track. On Thursday Speed offers the NASCAR Camping World West race from Dacono, CO at 3 p.m.
The coverage picks up momentum on Friday with an 8 a.m. airing of F1 Practice from Valencia, Spain then Nationwide Practice from Bristol at 10:30 a.m. followed by Cup Practice at noon, all on Speed. Final Cup Practice goes at 2 p.m. on Speed from that same venue followed by Nationwide Qualifying at 4 p.m. ESPN2 kicks in with Cup Qualifying from Bristol at 5:30 p.m. with the Nationwide Series race getting the green flag at 8 p.m. on that same cable channel.
Saturday’s action starts at 8 a.m. with F1 Qualifying from Valencia, Spain. NBC comes on the scene with AMA MotoX action from Budd’s Creek, MD at 3 p.m. VS offers IRL Indy Car Qualifying from Sonoma, CA at 6 p.m. At 7:30 p.m. it’s the Cup race from Bristol on ESPN while Speed returns with IHRA National action from Edmonton, AB in Canada at 8 p.m.
Sunday goes like this with a 1 a.m. airing of NHRA Qualifying from Reading, PA on ESPN2. Speed will air F1 Qualifying from Valencia, Spain at 3 a.m. and then the GP2 race from that same venue at 6 a.m. while the Grand Prix of Valencia airs at 7:30 a.m. Speed returns with the AMA 250 MotoX event from Unadilla Park in New Berlin, NY at 3 p.m. VS will broadcast the Indy Car race from Sonoma at 5 p.m. The Speed Report at 7 p.m. will wrap-up the busy weekend followed by NASCAR Victory Lane and then Wind Tunnel at 9 p.m. The Duce will cap off the night and the weekend with NHRA Finals from Reading, PA at 10 p.m. (END)
NOTE: INFORMATION FOR THIS COLUMN CAME FROM VARIOUS REFERENCED SOURCES, PRESS RELEASES, NOTES AND OTHER SOURCES.
I dont stand alone when it comes to the so called cot, what has toyota made a deal with nascar? I`m from the old school , give us a race with american cars that made it exciting and worth while. Nascar is going to turn the race into soapbox circus. I must admit i like the restart with side by side racing, but after that theres nothing worth watching. I know times are changing but is it in are favor the fans or nascars deal with the devil. Oh yes i`m 60 years old and have watched racing most all my life.
p.s. If ya seen or know of a race contact,me ty;
The COT is ugly junk and unless NASCAR gets their collective selves to admit it, it will remain ugly junk. There has been very little in the way of racing since the COT was introduced. A few teams figured the thing out enough to sweep away the competition and that seems like the way it will stay.
That’s what happens when you covert to a Spec Racer.
Earnhardt is frustrated with his lack of success after his switch to HMS. Changes to the car won’t help him. He’s a one trick pony who did well on restrictor plate tracks (half his wins) that require the least amount of talent. He better watch what he wishes for. The last time he drove a pure race car, he crashed it at Sonoma and almost burned to death.
I like the safety part of the COT , but put the adjustments back in the chassis and put the original, enlarged body with spoiler back on and you’ve got a raceable car.
The mistake Nascar makes is their “our way or the highway” attitude. The arrogance to think they can engineer a car better than the pros who have been doing this for decades.
What happened to innovation and design improvements?
They should give the teams guidelines and let them design their own front end suspension within a loose set of rules. Also the left side weight rule is stupid. If you want cars to be able to develop mechanical grip you need left side weight. The left side weight they have now is about 40 years out of date.
Nothing saves costs for the owners. The more rules the more costs.
As it is now the parades they put on weekly are boring. People are losing interest in this mediocre product. Maybe what needs to happen is a revolt. How about a new SERIES and a new sanctioning body? Nothing is as american as a little bit of competition.
Eugene James,
You have no clue. Driving a race car is a lot easier up there in the stands or sitting in your arm chair sucking down brews than it is down there on the track. I have heard people whine about drivers in many series of racing. You obviously never have driven a real race car or you would not be so arrogant.
I have driven modifieds, stock cars, sprint cars and can tell you that anyone who gets to Cup level of racing has tons of talent. You can’t win at any level unless you are talented.