Nascab And The Cot

[Yoda McFly 1]

So, my racing jones is so bad that I've watched bits of a couple of Winston Cup ( ) races, and I've noticed something in watching the cars, and some comments of the commentators that leaves me with a question.

Other than easier enforcement of the Spec, what were the stated purposes of the Car of Tomorrow?

Was the intention to make the car harder to setup and drive, and therefore slower?

I ask because I noticed, more than a few times during today's race, drivers coming off of a corner, where I swear it looked as if the rear end was breaking out first, in the beginnings of a classic oversteer drift.

I've read comments to the effect of "such and such a Yur-oooh-peein driver ain't fast 'cuz it's too loose for him..." Is this what they're talking about? Does the CoT *want* to swap ends when it's fast?

Just curious.

As p**sed off at F1 as I was in October, and ready to swear it off for good, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but ... One more week!

The death of ChampCar has only helped F1 as far as my attitude goes. Tho' I still think F1 needs some drastic changes. Why can't I make this any smaller?

Bring on Sebring! Oh, yeah, that Melbourne thingy, too...

Edit: Previewed it twice and still missed a typo. Blah!

[Eric 0]

The purposes of the Car of Tomorrow:

• Bigger car, therefore more sponsor room (that wasn't stated, but you know it's true)
  
• Driver safety (the single biggest factor)
  
• Less focus on aerodynamics
  
• Cost-cutting (contradicts itself at the moment)
  
• Competition fairness (contradicts itself again)
  
• Incresed competition/Closer racing
  
• Emphasis on driver skill (hence Jimmie Johnson sucks this year)
  
• To allow Toyota to win (along with their 30 extra horsepower NASCAR gives them)
  
• To kill off Petty Enterprises
  

The handle of the cars sucks, which is the way stock cars and all racecar should be. The car is by nature tight, and the teams still are struggling to find a good balance, as they seem to over-adjust and make them bad loose. Which is good. Loose is fun, aero loose is stupid.

Speaking of aero loose, Rusty Wallace will need a new phrase, as the wing prevents aero loose from occuring, thus the Daytona 500 was very entertaining.

The COT also has a higher closing rate. You can close in a guy a lot faster, which makes blocking hard to do. This was apparant at Daytona, as well.

The COT creates a bigger hole in the air, being a bigger car, which adds to drafting.

I've watched bits and pieces, including the entire Daytona 500, and I am pleasantly surprised by the COT.

Oh and I still call it Winston Cup, too. Pretty soon it'll be the Deutsche Telekom Cup anyway.

[Yoda McFly 1]

Oh and I still call it Winston Cup, too. Pretty soon it'll be the Deutsche Telekom Cup anyway.

To be honest, the first several times I saw "NASCAR Sprint Cup" mentioned in the On Screen Guide, my basic thought was "what the hell bush-league NASCAR series is this? Who the hell wants to watch sprint racing on big ovals?

Then, finally it sunk in that Nextel didn't exist any longer ...

But I love how, whenever it's mentioned, it's like "Joe Bob there has been in Sprint Cup competition for 38 years!" ... And I think to myself, NO, he's been in Sprint Cup for less than a year...

Wonder when they're going to start digitally removing all the Winston Racing logos from the old footage ...

[Eric 0]

Wonder when they're going to start digitally removing all the Winston Racing logos from the old footage ...

They just don't show old footage. They honor the real heroes of the sport, like Jimmie Johnson. Because who the hell cares about Earnhardt, Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, Allison, etc when you have a tremendously talented driver like Jimmie Johnson who is behind a Petty Enterprises car in points. All hail Jimmie Johnson

Anyway, we'll get another new name when them there furriners buy Sprint, because the contract only allowed for one name change. And Craftsman is leaving the Truck Series.

I hate how recognition in NASCAR is based on sponsors. There's the Home Depot car, you're watching the Nationwide Series, I'm Mike Joy presented by DIRECTV. It annoys me. I see the advertisement. I can read. I don't need to hear it a billion times because in the end, I'm not buying anything because I saw it on a racecar. The only time I ever used a sponsor because it was a sponsor was Red Bull. I figured if they could sponsor all of those cars, they must be making a lot of money, so their product must be good. The product is average, pales in comparison to other energy drinks. And like everything else, it's nothing compared to good old fashioned water.

[ykickamoocow 0]

I know very little about Nascar but i will say 1 thing

GO MARCOS AMBROSE

[Eric 0]

I know very little about Nascar but i will say 1 thing

GO MARCOS AMBROSE

Awesome Ambrose had a pretty good run in the Late Model Sportsman Grand National Budweiser Grand National Busch Grand National Busch Series Nationwide race. He's got potential. Not sure if he's Strictly Stock Grand National Winston Grand National Winston Cup NEXTEL Cup Sprint Cup material, but he's been fairly impressive. The driver from the Who Gives A Damn It's Just Cup With Shorter Races That Happen to Be Even More Boring Series who really impresses me is Brad Keselowski. He's the man, and if it weren't for that mofo Mark Martin (who has retired every day since January 1, 2004) he'd have a win. (If you can't tell, Mark Martin has been among my least favorite drivers for a long time).

[Yoda McFly 1]

Awesome Ambrose had a pretty good run in the Late Model Sportsman Grand National Budweiser Grand National Busch Grand National Busch Series Nationwide race. He's got potential. Not sure if he's Strictly Stock Grand National Winston Grand National Winston Cup NEXTEL Cup Sprint Cup material, but he's been fairly impressive. The driver from the Who Gives A Damn It's Just Cup With Shorter Races That Happen to Be Even More Boring Series who really impresses me is Brad Keselowski. He's the man, and if it weren't for that mofo Mark Martin (who has retired every day since January 1, 2004) he'd have a win. (If you can't tell, Mark Martin has been among my least favorite drivers for a long time).

Bwahahahaha ... So that's what the "Nationwide" series is ... It all makes sense now.

I need to pay more attention to the marketers. My life would be more completer.

Wait, what?

[DOF_power 0]

The purposes of the Car of Tomorrow:

• Bigger car, therefore more sponsor room (that wasn't stated, but you know it's true)(sooooo true)
  
• Driver safety (the single biggest factor)
  
• Less focus on aerodynamics (contradicts itself)
  
• Cost-cutting (contradicts itself at the moment)
  
• Competition fairness (contradicts itself again)
  
• Incresed competition/Closer racing (contradicts itself again)
  

• Emphasis on driver skill (hence Jimmie Johnson sucks this year)
  
• To allow Toyota to win (along with their 30 extra horsepower NASCAR gives them) (another Roush crybaby myth till proven otherwise)
  
• To kill off Petty Enterprises (and to kill off Wood Brothers too, and turn Yates into Roush B team)
  

The handle of the cars sucks, which is the way stock cars and all racecar should be.

?!?!?!

The car is by nature tight, and the teams still are struggling to find a good balance, as they seem to over-adjust and make them bad loose. Which is good. Loose is fun, aero loose is stupid.

Except that there's no overtaking, no shuffling of positions, last race looked like a typical F1 parade plus drifting around.

Speaking of aero loose, Rusty Wallace will need a new phrase, as the wing prevents aero loose from occuring, thus the Daytona 500 was very entertaining.

The wingtips really, as they restrain/contain the downforce spill better.

The COT also has a higher closing rate. You can close in a guy a lot faster, which makes blocking hard to do. This was apparant at Daytona, as well.

On the contray, and Daytona was an exception.

The COT creates a bigger hole in the air, being a bigger car, which adds to drafting.

Also makes losing front downforce worse

I've watched bits and pieces, including the entire Daytona 500, and I am pleasantly surprised by the COT.

Oh and I still call it Winston Cup, too. Pretty soon it'll be the Deutsche Telekom Cup anyway.

T-mobile Cup

[Eric 0]

The less focus on aero may or may not contradict itself; I don't understand aerodynamics too well, but the big, bulbus COT seems to be less aerodynamic. Whether or not it really is, I don't know. If you could explain, I'd appreciate it. Because I really have no clue.

Increased competition and closer racing DOES not contradict itself. You may disagree, but I've found the races this year far more entertaining than the majority of the races in 2004-2007. 2004-2007 was flatout boring and impossible to even try to watch; 2008 has had a lot more excitement. Sure, Atlanta wasn't anything to write home about, but I wouldn't classify it as being as boring as an F1 race, because it kept me in front of the TV for a while and had some interesting parts to it. There's no real way to argue if the racing was good or not, because people look for different things to define "good." I, for one, enjoy it, and think the quality of the racing is up. The ratings increase, I feel, shows the general public would agree with that.

Actually, the extra Toyota horsepower idea first came from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Talladega when they had a dominant qualifying effort. It was proved after Daytona dyno tests that they had 15 more horsepower than Hendrick and around 30 more than Childress. I forget the exact numbers. I'm not entirely sure about the real engines without restrictor plates, but NASCAR definitely favors Toyota. Toyota brings big money, obviously. I think it was all obvious when Brian France, who was rumored to have been under the influence of cocaine (hanging out with Tony George?), was in a car accident a few years ago. The vehicle? A Lexus.

Yep, it does hurt all the small teams for now, but 2008 is an improvement over 2007 for the small teams in a way. The smaller teams could not afford to develop both the old car and the COT last year, and therefore were kind of stuck with underperforming in many races due to the lack of developing one car. The COT made sense for the future, but then the intermediate track program with the old car would fall apart, and with the god damn top 35 rule, that can be a critical hit to any team. Now that they only have to focus on one car, while it still is quite costly, it is not as much as last year. Bobby Labonte hasn't done anything special this year, but he's solidly in the top 15 in points, which suggests that things are a lot easier on Petty Enterprises. Not saying that focus on just the COT is the only reason, as a new crew chief can be a large factor in that, as well as the COT driving more like an old style racecar, and Labonte being a veteran. Perhaps the move to a new shop is influencing it, but in a recent interview, Kyle Petty suggested that the move has had no benefits just yet. I will not deny the COT hurts Yates, as it does, but the lack of performance and resulting lack of sponsorship, as well as the Newman/Haas/Lanigan deal falling through, have hindered the team moreso than the COT. Still, it is a shame to see a team that has been a staple in the sport in all the years I have been watching fall so far behind.

The handling of a stock car should be tight. It is the appeal of stock cars, as it makes them challenging to drive. If you only make left turns, the car should want to turn right to challenge the driver. Today's NASCAR is not about desiging the fastest, most technologically advanced cars in the world, whether you like that or not, but rather it is about money and entertainment (which is of course stupid). Anyway, the point of the COT is not to be the fastest thing on wheels or to challenge engineers. It is designed to promote entertaining racing, challenge the drivers, and challenge the teams. The lack of handling makes for better racing, as well as promoting the best drivers and teams winning, as it takes more driver skill to handle, and more skill from the team to figure out a way to make an ill-handling car go fast. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is what it is, and while it isn't the optimal race vehicle, I really enjoy how it drives like an older stock car.

Which race did you watch? As I said, it wasn't a great race, but it was refreshing. It was so much better than the majority of races in 2007. Again, it wasn't like an F1 race because there was actual racing for the lead, as well as racing around the track in other areas. It wasn't as good as some of the past Atlanta races, but it was better than any of the ones in the immediate past.

If T-Mobile acquires Sprint, the title sponsorship bidding will begin. If T-Mobile wants to continue to sponsor the series, they will have to enter a new bid. With that said, there's really no reason to believe T-Mobile is going to buy Sprint based on the little I've read. Last year it was British Telecom who was going to buy them, and that obviously didn't happen.