Car of Tomorrow

Car of Tomorrow is also the title of a 1951 film by Tex Avery.

Car of Tomorrow may also refer to the new Nationwide Series car.

Car of Tomorrow

Technical specifications
Length	206 in (523.2 cm)
Width	78.5 in (199.4 cm)
Height	53 in (134.6 cm)
Wheelbase	110 in (279.4 cm)
Engine	5866 cc FR layout
Transmission	4-speed
Weight	1565 kg
Fuel	Sunoco
Tyres	Goodyear
Competition history
Debut	March 25, 2007

The Car of Tomorrow, sometimes called CoT or "Car of Today",^[1] is the car style for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Larger and boxier than the design it replaced, the Car of Tomorrow is safer, costs less to maintain, and was intended to make for closer competition.^{[citation needed]}

The car was introduced in the 2007 Cup season at the Food City 500 on March 25 and ran a partial schedule of 16 races. The plan was to require all teams to use the new car in 2009, but NASCAR officials moved the date up to the 2008 season as a cost saving measure.

Design

On January 11, 2006, NASCAR announced the Car of Tomorrow after a seven-year design program sparked mainly by the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in a final-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500.^[2] The then-current cars were based on a design by Holman Moody first used for the 1966 Ford Fairlane.^[3] The primary design considerations were "safety innovations, performance and competition, and cost efficiency for teams."^[4]

The CoT has improved safety over the older car.^[2] The driver's seat has been moved four inches toward the center, the roll cage has been shifted three inches to the rear, and the car is two inches taller and four inches wider.^[2] Larger crumple zones are built into the car on both sides. The splitter is a piece of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP, "fiberglass") used on the bottom front of the car to produce downforce, replacing the valance. The car's exhaust exits on the right side, which diverts heat from the driver.^[2] The fuel cell is stronger, and has a smaller capacity 17.75 US gallons (67.2 L), down from 22 US gallons (83 L), which as of 2007 has become standard in all cars.^[5]

A Car of Tomorrow body with Toyota Camry decals.

NASCAR officials say the car is less dependent on aerodynamics. It had a detached wing, which has not been used since the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird in 1970.^[6] The windshield is more upright, which increases drag. The radiator air intake is below the front bumper of the car, which reduces overheating caused by clogged grilles. The front bumper is more box-like, which catches more air and slows the car. The front airdam is gapped, as opposed to being a flush piece on the older cars.

All cars are required to fit the same set of templates, using a device that has been named "the claw" that is designed to fit over the new cars. Yet there are still minor differences between the makes. In the first two races at Bristol and Martinsville Speedway, the garages were opened one day early and the inspections took up to 10 hours so that everyone (teams, officials, etc.) could get a better grip on the new unified template. NASCAR's old rules had a different set of templates for each manufacturer (Ford, Chevy, Dodge, and Toyota). NASCAR has frequently adjusted the rules to ensure that different car manufacturers have relatively equal cars.

On Friday, January 15, 2010, Sprint Cup Series director John Darby informed teams NASCAR will transition back to the spoiler, and get rid of the rear wing because it is contributing to flips.

Dimensions

This chart lists the CoT's dimensions compared with the dimensions of the cars represented.

Model	Length	Width	Height	Wheelbase	Weight*
Monte Carlo [7]	200.7 in (5,098 mm)	72.5 in (1,842 mm)	51 in (1,295 mm)	110 in (2,794 mm)	3,400 lb (1,542 kg)
COT	206 in (5,232 mm)	78.5 in (1,994 mm)	53 in (1,346 mm)	110 in (2,794 mm)	3,450 lb (1,565 kg)
Ford Fusion	190.6 in (4,841 mm)	72.2 in (1,834 mm)	56.9 in (1,445 mm)	107.4 in (2,728 mm)	3,101 lb (1,407 kg)
Chevy Impala SS	200.4 in (5,090 mm)	72.9 in (1,852 mm)	58.7 in (1,491 mm)	110.5 in (2,807 mm)	3,711 lb (1,683 kg)
Dodge Charger	200.1 in (5,083 mm)	74.4 in (1,890 mm)	58.2 in (1,478 mm)	120 in (3,048 mm)	3,820 lb (1,733 kg)
Toyota Camry	189.2 in (4,806 mm)	71.7 in (1,821 mm)	57.9 in (1,471 mm)	109.3 in (2,776 mm)	3,263 lb (1,480 kg)

*Weight displays the curb weight of the least expensive trim level available for model year 2008 unless otherwise specified.

Testing

The Car of Tomorrow was first tested in December 2005 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Next it tested at the 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway, then on NASCAR's two shortest tracks, Bristol (0.533 mi) and Martinsville (0.526 mi.), the 1.5 mile Lowe's Motor Speedway, the 2.66 mile Talladega Superspeedway, and 2.0 mile Michigan International Speedway. Former NASCAR driver, current Sprint Cup pace car driver and Director of Cost Research Brett Bodine also tested the prototype car against cars prepared by current NASCAR teams.

Drivers have tested the CoT concurrently with the old car at some NASCAR tests and at special NASCAR-authorized tests. Some teams have tested the cars at the half-mile Greenville-Pickens Speedway, Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, NC, and the one-mile North Carolina Speedway, none of which are Sprint Cup tracks (the North Carolina Speedway was a regular venue until 2005), and therefore are tests which do not fall under NASCAR's restrictions.

Implementation

The Car of Tomorrow was first raced at the 2007 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the season's fifth race. The tracks that saw the CoT twice in 2007 besides Bristol and Martinsville International Speedway were Phoenix International Raceway, Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Other than Talladega (for the fall event), Darlington Raceway and the road course races at Infineon Raceway (Sonoma, Calif.) and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International ran the CoT once each in 2007.

Original implementation plans called for the CoT to be used at 26 events in 2008, starting with both races at Daytona, including the season-opening Daytona 500 and related events (Budweiser Shootout and Gatorade Duels), the spring race at Talladega and Michigan, both races at California Speedway, Pocono Raceway and the event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Based on the success of the February 28th test at Bristol, NASCAR considered requiring CoT cars for the full schedule in 2008 in order to avoid applying two sets of rules (as supported by a survey of NASCAR owners, with 80% favoring the switch), adding all three events (including the all-star event) at Lowe's Motor Speedway, as well as both races at Atlanta and Texas Motor Speedway, and single races at Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway one year earlier than scheduled.^[2] This was confirmed on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 by NASCAR.^[8] Had NASCAR continued with the original schedule of implication, the other tracks would have been added in 2009.

Debut

On March 25, 2007, the CoT debuted in its first NASCAR-sanctioned race. Kyle Busch won the race, the first win for the Chevrolet Impala since Wendell Scott's historic race in 1963.

Reactions to the CoT's performance were mixed. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., after finishing 7th, said, "It wasn't a disaster like everybody anticipated. It worked out, I reckon. Racing was about the same."^[9] Drivers were also impressed with the car's ability to bump other competitors without causing a spin (bumper heights were equalized due to street car development, and nose-to-rear bumper contact caused spins that pre-1988 cars would not cause), and NASCAR officials were pleased with the improvements in safety.

Profile view of CoT at Daytona International Speedway

Several drivers and pundits expressed distaste for the car and what they perceived as a less exciting style of racing created by it. Kyle Busch, despite winning at Bristol, commented that "they suck" during his victory lane interview.^[10] Retired driver and TV analyst Rusty Wallace stated on ESPN that the car created a boring, single-file racing environment with little of the passing, action, or crashing that has made NASCAR popular, though after NASCAR announced the CoT would run the full schedule, he stated that it was "one of the best decisions NASCAR had ever made." Drivers who placed well at Bristol, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton, claimed that the car allowed the use of a second passing lane not usually present at Bristol.^[9] For the most part, however, the racing was strung out and single-file with drivers tentative in trying to make passes.

A major problem with the car's initial race was its front splitter. The splitter is a piece of FRP used on the bottom front of the car to produce downforce. It replaces the valence. One car's splitter running into the tire of another car beside it sometimes punctured the second car's tire.^[11] There were no problems with the splitter causing tire failure at the car's second race.

Another major problem has been that the foam used in the side of the car has caught fire, causing smoke in the cockpit. Kevin Harvick experienced this problem at the first CoT race at Martinsville costing him a good finish or possibly a win, and NASCAR decided to make modifications before the April 21 Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Avondale, Arizona.^[12]

Another problem with the foam was that when the side door was ripped open, as Brian Vickers experienced at Watkins Glen, the foam would spill out, making a mess.

During the 2007 UAW-Ford 500, the CoT's first debut on a superspeedway track at Talladega, NASCAR assigned a 31/32 inch (24.6 mm) restrictor plate to allow the engines to run at around 8,800 RPM due to the less aerodynamic design of the CoT. The previous generation car's engine would normally run around 7,000 RPM with a ⅞ inch (22.2 mm) plate.^[13] This was the most open restrictor plate to race at Talladega since 1988.^[14]

Car models

Front view of Chevrolet Impala badged CoT at Infineon Raceway

Chevrolet teams continued to use the Monte Carlo SS name on the old style car while using the Impala SS name on the CoT. Chevrolet discontinued the Monte Carlo model after 2007 and switched full time to the Impala nameplate starting in 2008. Dodge teams used the Charger name on the old car while using the Avenger name on the CoT; however, for 2008 the Charger name was used on the CoT.^[15] Ford used the Fusion while Toyota used the Camry, respectively, for both their old and CoT cars.

Criticisms and redesigns of the COT

NEXTEL Cup era

Criticisms of the CoT began with its first tests, with the magazine Speedway Illustrated noting the car's poor performance in traffic (February 2006 issue). The Winston-Salem Journal also noted extensive criticism of the project during 2006 testing, with drivers becoming more vocal by July 2007 and most fans rejecting the model, citing the falsity of many of its technical claims;^[16] one angle of criticism was the differing philosophies of NASCAR officials Gary Nelson and John Darby, with Darby a particularly ardent supporter of the CoT based on a misreading of the sport's competition packages.^[17] Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth were pointedly critical of the car's poor performance in traffic, with Gordon stating after the 2007 New England 300, "I'd like to know who it was who said this car would reduce the aero push because I could have told you from when I first drove this car that it would be worse."^[18] Kyle Busch, who won the very first race with the car at Bristol in 2007, proclaimed that the car "sucks" afterward and expanded on this criticism at Dover in 2008 in noting how the CoT was "hitting a wall of air" in the wake of a leading car, thus neutralizing ability to close up on leaders.^[19]

Sprint Cup era

On April 4, 2008, while in a qualifying run for the 2008 Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Michael McDowell struck the wall outside of Turn 1 at 190 MPH,^[20] and proceeded to barrel-roll eight times as fire came from the engine compartment. McDowell emerged from the Toyota unharmed. The car was praised for its safety as impact of the crash was about 30 miles an hour more than Dale Earnhardt's fatal accident, but similar hits with the old car (such as Todd Bodine at Talladega in 1996) had produced identical effectiveness in safety, and safety features considered exclusive to the CoT could be implemented on the current stock car.

In the 2008 Brickyard 400, the longest run under green flag conditions was 12 laps due to extreme wear of right-side tires, especially the right rear. The CoT, in its first use at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, created no improvement of the conditions on the track, which is well known for its rough surface. The lack of downforce on the car and its higher center of gravity created conditions that made it very hard on the right side tires. During the race, the tires used on the cars generally lasted no more than 10 laps at a time.^[21]

It has been claimed that the bulky rear wing that was affixed to the rear of the car from 2007 to early 2010 increased to the severity of many on-track incidents by sending the car airborne. On the final lap of the 2009 Aaron's 499 at Talladega, Carl Edwards swerved into the path of Brad Keselowski; Keselowski blasted Edwards into the air and Edwards was hit in mid-air by Ryan Newman and flipped into the tri-oval fencing, destroying most of the car. Edwards was uninjured. The crash was compared to the accident involving Bobby Allison in 1987 where his car became airborne and hit the catch fence in a similar location. Allison's crash (coming at speeds 20 MPH faster than Edwards' crash) ripped out some 100 feet of catchfence, while Edwards' crash only bent the support poles. Seven spectators were injured in Edwards' accident from debris.^[22] The aftermath of the accident spawned questions about the aerodynamic features of the CoT, the nature of pack racing with restrictor plates, and the safety features of Talladega Superspeedway. Video replay showed that despite deploying, the car's roof flaps did nothing to stop the car from flipping – a common failing of the devices dating to their very first month in use – and the second hit from Newman flipped the car higher.^[23] In the 2009 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega, Ryan Newman's car was spun backwards at high speed, and then flipped backwards ending up on its roof. At the 2010 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta – the second to last race to use the rear wing – Carl Edward's car swerved into the path of Brad Keselowski, causing the car to turn around backwards, and once again flip over despite the roof flaps being deployed.

These three accidents - as well as the general consensus that the wing made the car look like it was not even a stock car - were factors in NASCAR's eventual decision, in February 2010, to replace the wing with a more traditional rear spoiler starting at Martinsville in late March. Denny Hamlin won the first race with the new/old spoiler, beating out Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

For the 2011 season, the car's splitter and nose configuration were redesigned. The splitter's braces were removed, and the splitter was made nonadjustable. The nose as a whole was given a cleaner, rounder look that resembled that of NASCAR's previous model, now dubbed the "Car of Yesterday", and manufacturers were given free rein to construct the lower grille area to reflect that of their NASCAR models' production-car counterparts. In the past, all cars were required to run the same exact grille arrangement, allowing for very little, if any, real differentiation between them. The new nose was received by fans with wide acclaim.

The first racing with the redesigned car was the 2011 Daytona 500 and its supporting races (Budweiser Shootout and Gatorade Duels), all held on brand new pavement for Daytona International Speedway. The 500 broke long-standing records for leaders and lead changes, as 22 drivers changed the lead 74 times. But the story of the new car was a phenomenon of lock-bumper superdrafts - two cars would literally lock together and push into a clear lead, with speeds up to ten MPH faster than with a conventional draft (on numerous occasions 2-car superdrafts topped 206 MPH); this phenomenon had first debuted at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009 and in 2010 the result was a combined 175 lead changes for that track, but for Speedweeks 2011 it changed radically; three or four tandems of superdrafts would break clear of the pack and they generated a substantial aero push effect where air was impeding cars behind the lead group from passing the leaders. The phenomenon also led to a new level of "team" racing reminiscent of the team orders ethos common to Formula 1; drivers would communicate with each other over radio to coordinate "swaps" instead of actually fighting for position.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and veteran drivers such as Richard Petty and David Pearson were sharply critical of this new style of racing, especially in the wake of a race-record sixteen yellows, most of them for crashes caused when push-cars spun out leaders; Earnhardt, Jr. was a notable victim of a wreck late in the 500.

Fuel injection

Fuel injection will replace the caburetor as the fuel distributor in the Car of the Tomorrow starting in 2012.^[24] NASCAR is also reportedly designing a brand-new body style for the COT chassis that will resemble a given production car even more. The change is purely cosmetic, as the chassis and mechanics of the car will remain the same. This new car is tentatively set to debut in 2013.

References

General

• "Car of Tomorrow on track for Bristol debut", written February 1, 2007, nascar.com, Retrieved March 16, 2007
• NASCAR.com article, includes photographs
• NASCAR.com article on the first test at Daytona
• 2000 article about a UniTemplate car
• Benefits of Car of Tomorrow
• Newton, David (2007-03-25). "One race in, Car of Tomorrow does its job well — Racing — ESPN". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/columns/story?seriesId=2&columnist=newton_david&id=2812323&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos2. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 

Specific

1. ^ David Caraviello (April 2, 2007). "Car of today, CoT seems like yesterday for Hendrick". www.nascar.com. http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/04/02/jjohnson.jgordon.kybusch.rhendrick/index.html. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Jenna Fryer (February 28, 2007). "NASCAR may move COT to full schedule in 2008". Associated Press. http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-cottest&prov=ap&type=lgns. Retrieved 2007-03-01. 
3. ^ Biography of Holman Moody at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Retrieved March 8, 2007.
4. ^ http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/headlines/cup/04/04/cot_martinsville/index.html
5. ^ http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/nascar-basics/nascar-car-of-tomorrow.htm/printable
6. ^ http://www.truckseries.com/cgi-script/NCTS_06/articles/000061/006135.htm
7. ^ "RACELINE CENTRAL: The NASCAR Car of Tomorrow Specs". http://www.racelinecentral.com/CarofTomorrow.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-09. 
8. ^ Car of Tomorrow Full Time In 2008
9. ^ ^{a b} Newton, David. One race in, Car of Tomorrow does its job well, ESPN.com, March 25, 2007
10. ^ Blount, Terry. Kyle Busch loves the victory, hates the new car, ESPN.com
11. ^ Wells, Thomas (2007-03-27). "'Car of Tomorrow' debut causes wrecks at Food City 500 in Florida". The Daily Texan. http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2007/03/27/Sports/car-Of.Tomorrow.Debut.Causes.Wrecks.At.Food.City.500.In.Florida-2793218.shtml. Retrieved 2007-03-30. 
12. ^ Hammond, Jeff (2007-03-27). "Gas 'n Go: Dale Jr.'s deal; foam fire fear". FOX Sports. http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/6634758. Retrieved 2007-05-08. 
13. ^ SpeedTV.com"CUP: NASCAR Midweek Notebook" Recovered: 11/25/07
14. ^ Jayski.com restrictor plate statistics
15. ^ Jayski's Silly Season Site – Dodge Past NASCAR News
16. ^ Car of Tomorrow: Fuzzy Math and Fuzzier Logic
17. ^ An examination of the CoT and John Darby
18. ^ Plenty Of Subplots At New Hampshire
19. ^ Postrace comments on 2008 Best Buy 400
20. ^ “” (2008-09-02). "Longest Nascar Crash Ever". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ue4hrn43HM&feature=related. Retrieved 2010-07-13. 
21. ^ Car of Tomorrow and Brickyard Tough on Tires
22. ^ Columbian Missourian "Carl Edwards' last-lap crash injures seven fans" Retrieved May 6, 2009
23. ^ ESPN.com "Dega a disaster waiting to happen" Retrieved May 6, 2009
24. ^ Bosch to provide oxygen sensors for fuel injection at NASCAR.com

External links

• Dale Jr. Chevy/Car Of Tomorrow Ad
• New Chevrolet Car of Tomorrow pictures with Impala SS front end