The Future of Motorsport?

Motorsport, internationally, seems to be going through a change, a bit of a crisis if you will allow me.

Formula 1 without Bernie Ecclestone. Another new era in NASCAR. Changes in Indycar. New cars in American sportscar racing. V8 Supercars without Australian built road cars. Formula E in its entirety challenging the accepted norms...

So the question must be... How to stay relevant in 2017?

Whether it is the relevance to manufacturers or to the fans, the fight to "matter" is the hardest of all.

F1 has not appeared as relevant to manufacturers as it once was for a while now. NASCAR have just introduced a completely bold, new race format and points structure in an attempt to stay relevant to the fans. V8 Supercars must change to stay relevant to both in the Australian marketplace, while Indycar dreams of being relevant again, outside of "the month of May".

There are so many distractions in the modern world vying for peoples spare time. Various sports, TV anytime all the time, cinema, coffee, alcohol, computer gaming, Facebook, gyms, shopping blah blah land...

In America, NFL has been the King of sports for a while now, although even they are finding life hard, with NASCAR the top motorsport. Then there is Baseball, Hockey, Basketball, Soccer, College Football, Golf, Wrestling, MMA among others, quite a list, and that's before you consider the other forms of motorsport all fighting for sponsors and fans interest and Dollars. Over here Football rules over everything.

So how does motor racing stay relevant enough that existing fans keep watching, new young fans start watching and manufactuers care.

Attention spans are shorter than ever, so if you are NASCAR you try to stay relevant by bringing in a totally new, bold raft of changes. New race format, new points structure, new tech package. Only time will tell if the changes will work by bringing a younger audience to the sport. While I hope it works for the long term good of the sport, I can't say I am totally sold on the format changes...

In Australia, V8 Supercars are having to re-imagine themselves. Their sport has always been based around the concept of Ford vs Holden, or in more recent times specifically, Falcon vs Commodore. With a market place which simply was not buying these cars anymore the end of the classic/home Australian car industry was an inevitable shame. So what next for Australia's top motorsport catagory when they have no Australian rear wheel drive cars to race?

Maybe to start to figure this all out we need to consider what made motor racing relevant in the first place.

To manufacturers it had to be the age old adage "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday". To Richard Petty, "There is no doubt about precisely when folks began racing each other in automobiles. It was the day they built the second automobile.” So stock car racing and touring cars were originally about racing the cars manufacturers wanted to sell. Single seater racing was more about developing the breed, specifically designed cars built for the purpose of going racing and putting the lessons learnt into road cars.

But where do those principles take us in 2017?

Modern road cars in Europe are mainly front wheel drive hatchbacks or "crossovers" with 4 cylinder petrol or diesel engines and 6 speed manual gearboxes. Company cars might be prestige brand rear wheel drive, automatic, diesel saloons. In America if it's not a 4x4 SUV it will be a 6 cylinder, front wheel drive saloon, auto obviously.  In Australia it's about the same as America. Also the modern road car is a very aerodynamically efficient piece of equipment, designed to deliver the best fuel economy possible. Not naturally conducive to exciting "old school" racing.

Modern single seater racing still attempts to develop the breed to a certain extent while fighting the effects modern aerodynamic and tyre eficiency have on the quality of the racing. Spiralling costs have limited manufacturer support however.

There is however a more worrying trend in modern road cars, automation. It is becoming normal to have a car which parks itself. It is becoming normal to have automatic cruise control, automatic lane assistance or warnings, automatic brake assistance, 360 degree cameras, road sign recognition. Fully automated cars are coming and fast. Automatic gearboxes, albeit with paddle gearshifts are bit by bit killing the H-pattern manual. Younger drivers are learning on Playstations and expect the real thing to be the same. Automatic and automated are the watch words.

So, in true Carrie Bradshaw fashion, I couldn't help but wonder... What is the future of motor racing in an automated world?

If future cars are electric, drive themselves, park themselves, automatic everything, will anybody actually drive, let alone race?

Back in 2017, racing series still need to appeal to manufacturers and fans, still need to be relevant. I wish I had the answer, and I wait with interest to see how the next few years pan out for the 4 wheeled motor racing world.

In the mean time I have found my racing fix in, what for me was a very unexpected place, motorbikes. Not MotoGP, but as an oval racing fan, AMA Flat Track racing in America, and for the first time ever, Speedway in Europe.

Watching a field full of the AMA twins drafting and sliding their way round the big dirt ovals across America, via the wonders of YouTube, has been a joy. I really look forward to seeing the renewed competition between Harley-Davidson with the new XG750R and Indian with the new FTR750. The changes being made to the AMAs top tier make perfect sense to me, answering most of the questions I had as a complete newcomer to the sport over the last few months. So a form of motorsport, seemingly in touch with the home market manufacturers, delivering exciting racing across America, maybe it can be done. I wish them well for 2017! Oh and the two new race bikes look great, proper "poster bikes" for the sport, which can only help. I just hope America takes notice!

Equally I have really enjoyed watching and learning about SpeedwayGP. An event has 23 heats, 4 riders in each, dirt ovals, no brakes, sideways! It's quick fire action all the way. Great entertainment. I haven't got my head round British Speedway with its teams yet but...

Hang on, short races, riders earn Championship points with each heat result, bit by bit the number of riders in the hunt gets cut down leading to an overall winner at the end of the day...

Maybe NASCAR is on to something after all...

2015 - Quick Thoughts

I am really enjoying Formula E. I like the good looking modern race cars, the city street circuits, and am enjoying the racing! I am hoping to go to London for the final round in June. The Virgin cars have rapidly become my favourite modern single seaters, with their flash chrome, red and purple colour schemes, but more of that in a bit...

Once again the Red Bull Air Race has got me hooked. Great spectacle, great entertainment and really close racing!

Oh dear, only three races in and we are already discussing this years NASCAR Sprint Cup Series aero rule changes, and not necessarily in a favorable light.

On the same topic, after the build up to, and, hopefully, drama of the Daytona 500, I find it hard to get excited by NASCAR over the following few weeks. To be fair, a general disliking of Atlanta and Las Vegas doesn't help... Yawn!

Also, I can not shake a feeling of disappointment towards this years Daytona 500. All that anticipation, those 15 or so laps of fantastic 3 wide racing and it ends under yellow, and yes I know NASCAR were right to put the yellow out, safety first blah blah blah, just don't ask me to like it. I wanted a last lap, last corner one on one slingshot for the win. The only comfort I took from the yellow was I am not sure it changed anything. As great as the racing was, I do not believe the drivers were able to overtake, one on one for the win, without a push from another driver, and on the last lap that was not going to happen.

I have been patiently waiting to see what the new Indycar aero kits look like.. and now the Chevrolet aero kit has been unveiled... One word... UGLY. The DW12 used to be my favourite modern single seater but not anymore... They had better race well 'cause that looks hideous!

On paper I like the "idea" of the new Nissan Le Mans car. A front engined sports car, a modern Panoz if you like. Something different to the normal mid-engined prototypes. But sorry what did you say? Front wheel drive? Oh dear, moving on...

As someone who has owned and loved two mark 1 Mazda MX5's I am loving the the look of the new version. If all I read about it is correct, it sounds like it will be a great car too, just like the original!

Another thing I like about Formula E is the School Series. I just like the idea of getting the host city's schools involved!

Marco Ambrose back in a V8 Supercar, and a Penske, of sorts! Sounds good to me. His car is pretty too!

I am looking forward to this year's BTCC. Lots of new driver, team, car combinations! I hope the relative stability in the rules package helps more teams get to the front.

And finally... the Honda Indycar aero kit has been unveiled, and guess what? Just when you thought things couldn't get any uglier...

While NASCAR Decides, I Can't!

So you all know about the changes NASCAR have made to the format for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

By now you will all be deciding if you like NASCARs vision of the future or if you long for the days of the "Winston Cup".

I can't make up my mind.

NASCAR is and has always been about putting on a show for the fans. End of, as they say. You can forget thoughts of an in depth, highly involved discussion about the finer points of motorsport. Put aside your aguments about the "fake" or "artificial" elements of the new format. If it is good for the show, it stays... end ... of!

Racing is about winning. NASCAR are trying to emphasise this with the new format.

NASCAR have introduced an "Elimination" aspect to the Chase. This happened anyway as "the cream always rises to the top".

As I write this I find myself making up my mind, for now at least.

I like it. If it adds excitement, what's not to like.

I do find myself considering one thing though. What is the real point of these changes?

In my eyes everything NASCAR is doing is in an attempt to improve the racing, the show, the sport. Why?

One opinion is because the show is not as good as it should be. The other, because NASCAR want to make it even better.

I tend to agree with the former.

Some racing series have weight penalties for the winners, F1 have DRS zones and KERS boost, Indycar has push to pass. All serve the same underlying purpose, improve the product, improve the racing.

To me the more important question prior to the start of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is how successful will the technical changes made to the Gen 6 car prove to be, for it is these changes which hold the key to the future of the sport. Better, closer racing, especially at the cookie cutter, mile-and-a-half tracks will do as much to create excitement in the sport as a new Chase format. Nothing beats good nose to tail, side by side racing.

Get back to the basics of NASCAR  "racing" and the rest will take care of itself.

I have decided!

I think the new format will be good for the show for all the obvious reasons, more emphasis on winning, less on just getting the points, more excitement, more headlines, more action. 

For this reason it has to be a good thing, just leave your deep, fanatical arguments at the door.

I am looking forward to this season, new point system and all, but to me the success of the 2014 season does not rest on the shoulders of a fancy new Chase format. I am sure it will help, but getting the Generation 6 race car to deliver on its promise of better racing is just as important in my honest opinion!

2013 NASCAR Rants

So how am I feeling about this years NASCAR season? 

What are my views on the recent controversies?

Strap in, hold on, and here we go...

First lets get the big one out of the way... The idea of anyone manipulating the results of a NASCAR race, other than the odd caution for debris, is appalling. It's probably a good thing my surname is not France as I would have banned all parties involved in the nasty MWR incident, crew chiefs, drivers the lot, for life! NASCAR is about racing plain and simple. F1 may dabble in the team orders debate from time to time but in NASCAR... never... not even debatable... To paraphrase an old Blackadder line, if there's anything bigger than NASCARs ego around here I want it caught and shot now! Spinning on purpose to bring out a yellow and help a team mate... get out and don't come back! Am I surprised their sponsor left them, no not remotely.

Moving on...

JPM out... not surprising but a shame nevertheless.  JPM back to Indycar sounds like a good move. JPM to Penske, wow, that will be fun!

Should Dillon run the 3 in the Cup Series? I can see both sides, but yes I think he should. If NASCAR were going to retire the number for good then why have we had drivers not only running "that" number but also "that" font ever since that tragic day, albeit not in the Cup Series. 3 is Dillons number now, let the kid run it and move NASCAR forward.

Have the new cars really worked? They have cetainly brought the sport back to the manufacturers as the cars now look like the same as those in the showroom., but is the racing better? Erm not sure. They can race closer together now but until the rule makers slow the cars down the racing will never be as good as it could be.

SHR moves to 4  cars!? Pardon... lets face it the move to 3 cars hasn't been a huge success.  I fear the politics behind signing Kurt could overshadow the more important stuff. Don't get me wrong, I hope SHR bounce back next year. Stewart, Harvick, and Kurt is one hell of a lineup, oh and Danica. To be fair she is still a rookie so lets give her time.. not a lot... but a bit...

Trucks on dirt... two words... huge success! Should they do it again... two more words... you bet! The slippin', the slidin', the beatin', the bangin'. Easily my highlight of the year so far!

Speaking of the Trucks, I like the look of next years Toyota Tundra. Looks more like the early Craftsman Trucks, squarer, more "stock". Looking forward to the 2014 Ford and Chevy trucks!

Nationwide Series? Too many races won by Cup regulars. I am glad NASCARs rules now mean  the Championship will won by a Nationwide driver, not a Cup regular, but I still believe more should be done to stop the Cup drivers dominating the feeder Series races. Hornish vs. Dillon sounds good, I hope Hornish gets it!

The 2013 Cup Series looks like it will come down to Johnson vs. Kenseth. Personally I would love Harvick to get it.

2014? I hope NASCAR, sooner or later, makes some changes to the schedule. As always less mile-and-a-half tracks, more short tracks. The Chase should include a, third, road course, finish at a short track, and I still say a lot of races should be shorter. 

The sport of NASCAR is in a good place, a few tweaks and it could be in a great place.

2013... A Good Year for Racing!

It occurs to me that 2013 is building up to be a vintage year for fans of motor racing.

I watched the last couple of Grand Prix and they were good... very good. I don't usually care for F1, too technical, boring drivers, ugly cars, too, well, dull. However this year we have seen not only some of the best racing I can remember seeing in F1 but some of the best racing anywhere, period. Some may say its only due to the artificial mix of tyre compounds, KERS and DRS, and the racing is not "real". Personally I say humbug! Good racing is good racing, and this year F1 has produced a show worth watching.

Long may it continue!

By the way, while we on the topic of F1, I can not help but laugh at the reaction some have when certain drivers "go racing".

Oh didums your team mate overtook you, or pushed you a bit hard or disobeyed orders or blah blah blah. This is what racing is about, if you do not like it then retire and let another young hotshot have a go.

However in 2013 F1 is not the only championship which seems to have got its "stuff" together as this years NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is producing great racing every weekend.

We had a great race at Talladega, Bristol has its magic back, and for the first time in years the cookie cutter mile and a half tracks are great to watch.

Whats the one common denominator?  The Gen 6 race cars. It is fair to say that so far this year NASCARs extensive R&D has paid off... big time. The cars look great, they look relevant, and boy are they racy!! So racy in fact that I might actually look forward to Pocono this year... anyway... this year we are seeing the drivers racing closer together and with more side by side racing than we have for years.

Again, long may it continue!

But F1 and NASCAR are not alone in producing great shows for the fans as the Indycar Series is delivering the goods as well.

I grew up more of a NASCAR and CART fan than F1 fan. The racing was better, the drivers more fan friendly, the cars better looking, you get the idea. While I have never stopped following and being a fan of NASCAR, my alegence to Indycar has waned in recent years. Aside from the Indy 500 (always a favourite occasion) I lost track of the sport once the IRL ceased to be. I used to love the close oval racing the IRL produced, and the great road races that CART at its best produced before that and I have missed this style of racing. With this in mind I have rediscovered American open wheel racing this year.

I have watched this years races in reverse order and have enjoyed them. Again cars capable of running close together and drivers making the most of it. While I was disappointed that the series did not opt for a bolder design of car when the current spec car was introduced the car has grown on me. Another race car that looks great and races well. Am I looking forward to the Indy 500? You bet!

Again, long may it continue!

 

I have also been watching this season of Australias V8 Supercars, and again, what great racing. The new rules have kept the gap between Ford and Holden close and its only a matter of time before the Mercedes and Nissans get to the front. On the topic of touring cars, in the UK the BTCC has produced some good races as well.  Once the BMWs, Toyotas and Fords are consistantly up front

with the Hondas and MGs the championship will be back where it belongs.

Good racing in 2013...

Long may it continue!

NASCAR Auto Club 400!

The Generation 6 NASCAR Sprint Cup race car delivered on Sunday. The race was brilliant!



Get well soon Denny. It may have been a great battle but we don't want our gladiators hurt in the fight.



You have got to love the passion these guys have for their racing.



A great NASCAR race then...

Long may the action continue!

Why I "Get" NASCAR!

V8, rear wheel drive, H-pattern gear changes...

I get that.

Two wide racing...

I get that.

Three wide racing...

I get that.

Drafting at nearly 200 mph...

I get that.

Bump drafting at nearly 200 mph...

I get that.

Do or die moves at every restart..

I get that.

Green, white, chequers...

I get that.

Drivers getting all emotional about their sport...

I get that.

"Have at it?"

I get that.

This years Gen 6 race car...

I get that.

2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup...

I GET THAT!!

Dennys Fine, No Really He Is...

So Denny Hamlin comes off of the track at Phoenix, after a back to front drive which saw him miss out on second by a whisker to the 48 car and makes a "disparaging remark" about the quality of the racing with the new Gen 6 race car.

NASCAR did not like these remarks and decided in their infinite wisdom to do something about it.

Except NASCARs infinite wisdom department was obviously busy when this decision was made and someone with no "clue" handed out a $25000 fine.

Fined $25000...

For having an opinion...

Ouch...

NASCAR desperately needs to get away from having dull, emotionless, corporate machines driving race cars and get back to humans with attitude, aggression, an edge, thats why I love having  Keselowski and Stewart as recent Champions.

Here's the same situation with me behind the big desk in the NASCAR hauler...

"Hello Denny, come in... slap...

Look... slap...

We know the Gen6 is a work in progress... slap...

But for gods sake shut up... slap...

The last thing we need to do is start talking negatively about the car... slap...

Come and talk to us about what's going on, how it is racing... slap...

But don't bad mouth the new car after two races or you surely will get a... slap..."

And the door opens, no one is any the wiser.

I have said before that it will take half the year before the sport learns the new car. Tyre compouds will change, set ups will develop, NASCAR will adjust the rules, all in the hope of improving the "show".

NASCAR, you just made yourselves look stupid, do not silence the drivers, encourage them... until they cross the line, then give them a good slapping behind closed doors and let them carry on.

The fans want personalities in the race cars not corporate entities. I think fans want drivers to have an opinion without the sponsors dictating what they can or can not say. Give me a Brad or a Tony any day, and in this case give me a Denny.

Hamlin might have a point, maybe the car has not raced as well as hoped, so far, but lets give everyone involved the chance to get it right before we ring the death bell.

Bemused, Bewildered, Confused, Or To Put It Another Way... I Don't Get It...

The 2013 Daytona 500 was... odd...

Old school drafting a la Earnhardt was back, and this is not a good thing in my opinion.

As I have documented in the past I am of the opinion that the two things the much unloved COT did well were keep drivers safe, and draft at Daytona and Talladega. In fact the cars drafted too well, and the bumpers lined up so perfectly that tandem drafting was born. We all know that NASCAR spent many hours trying to eliminate the tandem draft and to much success.

The first proper race of 2013 would show us what type of restrictor plate racing we would get with the Gen 6. The answer was the one I hoped I would not get... 90's pack racing. Drivers apparently unable to overtake without help, a lot of help. Drivers running round playing follow the leader until the very end. To be fair the early wreck didn't help, but that's not the answer to the fairly processional 500. That's not the answer, but what is the question?

Here is what is bothering me...

During and after the race Danica said she was only using part throttle while running in the draft. This alone is not surprising, in fact this is how it should be. What is surprising is the lack of overtaking by drivers with the loud pedal buried on the floor. The end of the race showed that the drivers and the Gen 6 could overtake, they just didn't. Why didn't more drivers "play" early in the race, find out what happened when they did pull out of the draft. Why didn't a few drivers get together to see what would happen? This was the Daytona 500 after all and no one looked like they wanted to win it, but they all looked scared stiff of losing it. If the drivers had that much accelerator to play with, why didn't they?

The questions are obviously... How does NASCAR make the racing better? Does NASCAR need to change anything?

The Gen 6 car is supposed to do two things, bring back manufacturer identity, and improve the racing. The first it does very well, a Ford now looks like a Ford, a Chevy looks like a Chevy, a Toyota...

The jury is still out on the second and to be fair will be for the first half of this year. Every time the cars race NASCAR, the teams and drivers, and Goodyear will learn a little bit more and by the time the Cup Series starts going back to tracks again we will see what this car can really do.

I do wonder if NASCAR will do something to the 'plate package to increase the closing rates and make it easier to overtake, but lets give NASCAR the chance to get this car right before we talk the sport we love out of business. I am not convinced much needs to change, just a few tweeks and am sure the powers that be will get the show right in the end.

While I think about it I get the feeling there are going to be two attitudes towards Danica Patrick, love or hate. Some will love her and see her as the new Earnhardt Jr, the fan favourite and darling of the sport. Others who hate her will see her as the new Earnhardt Jr, all talk and no action, a driver living off of a "gimmick", Dales is his name, Danicas her gender. I am not sure where I sit yet, I just know this, I would take pole, running up front all day, leading a lap and a top 10 finish in the first race of my rookie year thank you very much, especially when that race was the Daytona 500! The media circus around her might get a bit much at times, but as Keselowski said, she's just another racing driver so lets rate her on her performances in her rookie year, and so far shes done all right.

On a slightly different topic I do wish a speedy recovery to the fans injured at the end of the Nationwide race. Racing is dangerous, but no one want to see fans hurt supporting the sport they love!

Why You Should Watch...

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/02/23/watch-nascar/

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/10/03/watch-bathurst-1000/

I found these and felt the need to share.

NASCAR and V8Supercars Vs. Formula 1...

I know which wins in my book!!!!!

Daytona Speedweek... The Stories So Far...

The stories so far... Kevin Harvick won a relatively lacklustre Sprint Unlimited Saturday night and Danica Patrick is on pole for the 500!

Top 10 Reasons I Am Looking Forward to 2013

10 - More NGTC = Better BTCC

It's a bit early in the year for motorsport over here but with drivers being announced and the prospect of more NGTC cars on the grid, 2013 should build on the momentum the series gathered last year.
 

9 - New NASCAR race cars
 

8 - Grand Am Daytona Prototypes, last year before "merger"

2013 is the last year for the Grand Am Series as we know it as next year it will merge with the ALMS series. I like the Daytona Prototypes. They look good, sound good, and as last years championship and this years Rolex 24 at Daytona show, they race good too! I hope the newly merged series keep the Prototypes as the top class next year, and don't let the overly technical, expensive, irrelevant European machinery wreck their own homegrown championship!

7 - New NASCAR race cars

 

6 - Year 2 for the new Indycar Series

With a year in the books the Indycar Series should produce more good racing as hopefully more teams and drivers will be competitive in the DW12 chassis this year. Roll on Indy 500!!

5 - NASCAR Trucks on Dirt

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series... at Eldora... on dirt... What's not to look forward to?

4 - New Air Titan technology for NASCAR
 

For a sport which relies on dry weather, the last couple of NASCAR Sprint Cup seasons have been blighted by rain delays early on in the season. The most famous effect of rain was the JPM vs track drier fireball incident at last years Daytona 500. This new technology, developed by NASCAR basically blows the water off of the track so the track driers can dry the track and not the water on the track. Once the water is on the apron another machine sucks the water up. It is a bit like washing your hands and then using a hot air hand drier, the quickest way to dry your hands is to shake the water off and then put your hands under the drier. This should dramatically reduce rain delays. Simply put, in the event of rain, more racing, less waiting!
 

3 - New NASCAR race cars
 

 

2 - Mercedes and Nissan join V8Supercars

The new spec V8Supercars look great! Mercedes and Nissan have joined stalwarts Ford and Holden on the grid this year under the championships new rules package. The Mercedes is especially tasty!! I can't wait to see how they race. The only pity for me is that after years of supplying the pace car, Chrysler have not joined the grid with the 300C SRT, oh well at least the pace car is still a Mopar!

 

1 - New NASCAR race cars, have I mentioned it?

OK I am in love with the new Ford, Chevy and Toyotas in the Sprint Cup Series! You might have gathered, I am of the opinion that if a car looks right it probably is right, and these look... right! I hope the American press and the fans give NASCAR, the teams, the drivers and Goodyear the time to get the racing package right at all tracks. The prospect of 43 of these 2 and 3 wide, nose to tail at all types of race track is one I look forward to. This will be a learning year but the sport has the right goals for this car!
 

Hey Good Lookin'... Part 5...

We now have the last piece of the puzzle.

This is the new Chevrolet SS!

I am a little disappointed that the new Holden Commodore is only a facelift, a very extensive facelift mind you, of the old car meaning that while this looks very much like a mark 2 Pontiac G8 it is still a good looking car... and who am I to argue with a rear wheel drive, V8 Chevy.

Once again this shows NASCARs latest race car is doing a very good job of putting the "stock" back into stock car racing!

2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevy SS... or... Hey Good Lookin' Part 4

The last of next years Sprint Cup race cars has now been unveiled.

 

Next years Chevy race car will be based on the still to be unveiled new "halo" car, the rear wheel drive, V8 engined "SS". The road car will basically be an American market version of the Australian Holden Commodore.

 

The race version does look good but without seeing the road equivalent we have nothing to compare it to. It is odd that with the new NASCAR bodies putting such a huge emphasis on manufacturer identity, or to put it another way, making sure the race cars look like the road cars, that Chevrolet have decided to show us what the race car looks like, but not the road car. I certainly hope the "SS" is more successfull than the Pontiac G8 was!

 

 

 

We are starting to see more and more 2013 paint schemes now, and it has to be said, again, that the 2013 Cup cars do look good!

 

Are we there yet?

NASCARs Car of Tomorrow, Did it Work?

Monday morning the COT, NASCARs Car of Tomorrow race car, as we have known it for the last few years, will become the car of yesterday.

In 2013 NASCAR are introducing the next generation of race car but before we move forward lets look back at the COT's tenure in stock car racings top series.
 

So did it work?

To start to answer that we need to look at what the sport had pre-COT. NASCAR race cars had become very aerodynamic machines. The cars had very different bodies for each track to maximise aero efficiency and a Daytona car looked very different to a Charlotte car or a Martinsville car. The bodies were also "twisted" meaning they were different from one side to the other. It is fair to say they bore little to no resemblance to the road cars they were supposed to be based on. All the wind tunnel time and technology required to perfect those slippery bodies was also sending budgets through the roof. For teams and sponsors the sport was not as relatively cheap as it once was. Unfortunately the now infamous wreck in the 2001 Daytona 500 also highlighted the need to improve the safety aspects of the cars sooner rather than later...
 

The COT was introduced in 2007 with several goals, improve safety, lower costs for the teams, give the manufacturers more identity on the car, minimise the reliance on aerodynamics, and improve the racing.

The easy one of those to look at is the improvements in safety. We have seen some very big wrecks and some hard hits over the last few years and every time the drivers involved walked away. Nobody can deny that the combination of the COT, improved seats, SAFER barriers and the HANS device have made the sport much safer. Well done to all involved on that respect!

The other goals for the COT are harder to judge.

Has it lowered costs? On paper the theory seemed valid, no need for different bodies for each track meaning the number of cars the teams need to build can drop and no need for expensive wind tunnel programs. I am not sure if it has worked to lower budgets but the fact that several people have been able to set up teams by purchasing cars from other teams must mean something.

As I have already said, the previous generation of race cars had become so unrecognisable as Fords, Chevys, Dodges or Toyotas that improved manufacturer identity was a big part of the COTs remit. In one way it worked, the manufacturers had more space to put their own stickers on the cars so the fans could tell which was which. The COT had a problem though. They were widely considered UGLY, and as all the cars had the same shape bodies regardless of manufacturer they therefore did not look like any of the road cars they were meant to be. The fans hated the new rear wings and the boxy fronts with the big splitter sticking out. Bigger stickers or not, fans did not identify with the new race car. Hate campaigns were started, mainly against the rear wing and the splitter which many fans thought stopped the cars looking like "stock cars". Part way through the 2010 season NASCAR replaced the rear wing with an old fashioned rear spoiler and for the start for the 2011 season NASCAR facelifted the COT removing the boxy front and replacing it with a move conventional smoother front air dam, like the previous generation Daytona cars. Fans still didn't like that the cars all looked the same, but at least they now looked like "stock cars".
 

The problem with the facelift was that the splitter and rear wing were there for a reason. NASCAR designed the COT to have a bigger, taller, squarer roof line, not only for safety but to also punch a bigger hole in the air, therefore increasing the draft. The rear wing created downforce at the back of the car while also allowing air to pass though it and onto the front of the following car in theory limiting the effects of aero push for the following car. Lastly the splitter gave the car a big shelf to catch air and help the front end.

Upsides... The cars sure could draft at the restrictor plate tracks! They drafted so well, and as the new bumpers lined up perfectly the drivers could bump draft much more easily compared to the old cars, that a new style of racing emerged at Daytona and Talladega. Tandem racing, where two cars could literally push each other around, became the order of the day. Fans hated it, and NASCAR has spent the last few years trying to minimise this effect, to, it has to be said, much success. Another upside of all of this was the return of the "slingshot" at the 'plate tracks. The COT reintroduced the last lap overtaking move. You didn't want to lead the last lap as the driver behind could pull out and slingshot passed you coming out of turn four a la Petty vs Pearson! The new car also had lower cornering speeds and for a while it looked like the racing at the mile and a half track was going to be better than before.

Unfortunately the COT also had its downsides. As well as the UGLY factor, and the fact that they all looked the same there were other problems. Firstly the cars kept getting airborne every time they wrecked. This was blamed on the rear wing which was doing what it said on the tin, as soon as the cars were turned sideways the wing was literally picking the back of the cars up off the ground and making them fly. This would not do.
 

So NASCAR facelifted the COT. The cars now looked better and stayed on the ground, which is a very good thing, but it has to be said that to me the racing has suffered ever since the wing was removed.

Aero push and track position have become huge factors on all tracks bar the restrictor plate tracks and the short tracks where aero is not an issue. The cars seem unable to run close together without getting upset by the leading cars air, exactly what the COT was designed to eliminate in the first place. Unfortunately none of this has helped improve the standard of the racing.

The other problem the early COT had was the drivers hated it. It was hard to drive, had far too high a centre of gravity so it rolled to much in the turns, the aero balance was wrong, and in the early days ate tyres for breakfast. Aside from the tyre issue, which was largely due to the fact that early on Goodyear were still learning how to make tyres for the new, higher downforce, heavier car, I had little time for the drivers complaints. Of course they were not going to drive like the old cars, they are not the old cars. Once drivers and teams stopped complaining and figured out how to make the new car design work for them the sport started to move forward, and NASCAR told them to stop complaining and get on with it!

So what does all of this mean for the soon to be old COT. Well the lessons learnt from the first COT were put to good use as the COT mark 2 was introduced into the Nationwide Series in 2010 with much success. All the cars have the same, newly redesigned body but the cars now have greatly improved manufacturer identity and better aero balance. The fronts of each model now resemble the road car in shape as well as sticker design meaning a Dodge Challenger now looks like the road car, and a Mustang looks like a Mustang! The cars also have all the improved safety features and it has been said the racing in the Nationwide Series has be better than in the Cup Series on many occasions.

Hopefully the learning process from the first Car of Tomorrow with the wing and splitter, to the redesign, to the Nationwide car will bring about a successful introduction for the COT mark 3, the 2013 Cup car.

Under the skin the cars are the same and again improved manufacturer identity and improved racing are the goals. We can already say that on the first count NASCAR have succeeded. The cars look like their production counterparts, and no one is going to say they are ugly this time! I just hope NASCAR have learnt the aerodynamic lessons, done their homework, and get it right this time. Next years cars need to be able to draft and slingshot at the Daytona 500 in February like the current car and continue the 100% safety record, but they also need to eliminate the aero push on the intermediate tracks and make track position a thing of the past.

NASCAR had good intentions for the COT and those intentions are still relevant today and going into the 2013 season. They may not have succeeded with all of the goals but they must get it right this time around.

No pressure then!

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