MOORESVILLE, N.C. ----- The wait is over. The debut of the Car of Tomorrow (COT) is here and the #44 UPS Team is geared up for the challenge. This week marks the first race for the new car design NASCAR has implemented to improve racing competition and driver safety. With a front splitter and rear wing, the car's look will be noticeably different to fans. After testing, the teams are convinced that the racing around the half-mile oval will likely be very much the same.
"This car [COT] does behave a little differently than our regular downforce car, but I don't feel it's a big enough difference to change the style of racing that we're used to seeing at Bristol," said Crew Chief Matt Borland. "There's obviously going to be some nuances about the new car that we have to learn, along with figuring out the adjustments that make the biggest impact on the handling. With the engineers we have on this team, I'm confident we'll get up to speed fairly quickly."
The Food City 500 is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. EST start this Sunday.
Dale Jarrett Discusses Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway
What's your biggest concern with the handling of the COT so far?
"I'm a little bit concerned with the splitter in the front. It's flat on the bottom and sticks out a little further on the sides. At Bristol we're all used to getting the left front tire on the yellow line or lower coming off the corner to get the nose to turn a little sharper. The downforce cars we've been driving have a thin plastic valance on the front. If you're hitting that in the corners, it usually just scrapes off and doesn't affect the handling too much. But now with this Car of Tomorrow, the front is a flat piece and if you hit that on the track you can really feel it. I just hope that doesn't cause cars to shoot up the track and into other guys. But as long as we work on the setup so it doesn't hit in the front, we should be all right."
What's your strategy at Bristol?
"Bristol is such a crapshoot. Some people compare it to the superspeedways with tight racing and the chances of getting in a big wreck. But for me, the strategy is different. Sometimes it feels there is no strategy at all except to hang on for the ride. At the restrictor-plate tracks, you can either race up front and hope to stay in front of the 'Big One,' or you can ride around in the back and try to avoid the 'Big One.' But after just a few laps at Bristol the front of the field merges with the back and turns into one big merry-go-round. The only remedy really is to have a car that handles real well and does what you want it to. If you have that, you usually have more of a sense of control and can be more aggressive to keep yourself out of the bad situations. But unfortunately with the racing so tight at Bristol, sometimes you're just at the mercy of the other cars and there's nothing you can do. I've been fairly fortunate the last couple years to not get caught up in somebody else's mess."
UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
Dale Jarrett has been running at the end of every Nextel Cup race at Bristol since 1995, a period spanning 24 races. During that span, he has completed an incredible 97.45% of the laps run.
In his 21 starts at the Bristol Spring races, Jarrett has gained an average finishing position three spots higher than his starting position.
In the spring of 1995, Jarrett began a streak of nine consecutive top-10 finishes at Bristol that includes a win in the fall of 1997.
