MRM
Team Owner
Sunday's race at Homestead marks the final Cup race for the current car that has been raced for almost 20 years. It is the end of an era.
I have mixed feelings on the end of this era and the start of the full-time COT era. The current car has been getting out of hand for at least 10 years. The bodies are looking less like their street counterparts. If you look at some teams' versions, the fronts on some of these cars are starting to resemble dirt late models with their flared fenders and the straight right sides and different angles than the left side. These cars were also more aero dependent which made the racing not so racey at times.
The COT is definitely a safer car. It remains to be seen whether these cars will race like their truck counterparts on the 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks, being less aero dependent. I like the look at the front ends on these cars. The spoiler and splitter don't bother me. Looking at the cabin area from the side is the part of the car I cannot get past. The handling on these cars seem to be like racing a dump truck on some tracks.
Many fans have been turned off by the COT. With the 2008 season being the first season where every race is with this car, NASCAR is at a crossroads. The racing needs to be better, probably much better, for fans to embrace this car. That's what NASCAR promised us. If not, NASCAR may have finally killed the goose that laid the golden egg. In 5-7 years from now, this race will have an interesting place in NASCAR history. We'll see what that history is.
I have mixed feelings on the end of this era and the start of the full-time COT era. The current car has been getting out of hand for at least 10 years. The bodies are looking less like their street counterparts. If you look at some teams' versions, the fronts on some of these cars are starting to resemble dirt late models with their flared fenders and the straight right sides and different angles than the left side. These cars were also more aero dependent which made the racing not so racey at times.
The COT is definitely a safer car. It remains to be seen whether these cars will race like their truck counterparts on the 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks, being less aero dependent. I like the look at the front ends on these cars. The spoiler and splitter don't bother me. Looking at the cabin area from the side is the part of the car I cannot get past. The handling on these cars seem to be like racing a dump truck on some tracks.
Many fans have been turned off by the COT. With the 2008 season being the first season where every race is with this car, NASCAR is at a crossroads. The racing needs to be better, probably much better, for fans to embrace this car. That's what NASCAR promised us. If not, NASCAR may have finally killed the goose that laid the golden egg. In 5-7 years from now, this race will have an interesting place in NASCAR history. We'll see what that history is.
