The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series will race at the fast and furious Bristol Motor Speedway for the 93rd time this weekend. While racing at Bristol is nothing new, this weekend's Food City 500 may be one of the most anticipated events of the 2007 NASCAR season, as the Car of Tomorrow (COT) will be raced by the 43 cars competing on Sunday for the very first time.
Dale Jarrett and the #44 UPS Team tested at the half-mile track in late February during the designated test session. It was a first for Jarrett as it marked his first opportunity to sit behind the wheel of one of the new cars, designed to improve safety initiatives as well as competition. A number of changes have been made to what is now referred to as the COT and Jarrett considers enhancements to the driver compartment to be one of the most remarkable.
"I think that as we're going through the years in NASCAR, that we've seen small gains along the way in the area of safety," Jarrett said. "And certainly, I've had my opportunity to test the number of the things that we've had come along to enhance the safety inside of these racecars for the drivers. And I've been very fortunate in my career that a number of the things that
we've implemented into these cars have helped me."
"I don't know that we've seen anything that's going to make as much of an impact in the driver's compartment as what we're seeing with the Car of Tomorrow," he continued. "That obviously was the first and foremost reason behind building this Car of Tomorrow and doing things like moving the drivers away from the left-side door bars a little bit more."
While the first COT car race is probably one of the most anticipated events of the new season, the COT car itself has been one of the most controversial subjects among drivers, teams, the media and fans. The car is extraordinarily different from the current cars raced in the Nextel Cup Series. The new car has a boxier look and sharper angles, as well as a "wing- type" spoiler much like what is used in open-wheel racing today. Although most drivers agree that the safety aspects of the car are an improvement, most disagree that the new car will create more competitive events. Jarrett believes that opposition to change is at the root of the controversy.
"It's so totally different than what most of the drivers in the series today are used to," Jarrett explained. "They wouldn't have any idea that cars used to drive like this, so that's their biggest thing. It's because all they know is what the cars drive like right now with all the down force, the springs and shift combinations that you're able to run to maximize all of that down force
and the feel that they have. This is totally different. When I got in the car the first time, I said this takes me back to late 80s, early 90s race cars. That's what it felt like. And, you know, there's some of these kids that weren't even driving stock - passenger cars at that time much less racecars. So, you know, they'll get a feel for it and they'll understand more about it, but it's just so totally different than what they've been used to."
Although Jarrett has been supportive of the safety enhancements of the car he has also expressed his own concerns with the COT car - not because of the way it drives, but more because of what it does to the manufacturers in the sport.
"I understand a lot of the thinking behind it," Jarrett said. "Obviously all of the safety stuff everybody is for is a great idea. Trying to make the competition better by building a boxier car that, to me, looks more like a half-truck in the front and the rest of it car, I think we have to be careful there - that the manufacturers don't lose their identity because as we were just talking, that's very important to them that as we race on Saturdays and Sundays, people are ready to go buy that vehicle on Monday and Tuesday."
