NASCAR NOTEBOOK: Car of Tomorrow celebrates birthday

BY SAM JACKSON

BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The car formerly known as Tomorrow is celebrating a birthday this weekend, but it would be difficult to find anyone in the pits who brought a cake.

The new car, which made its debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in last year’s Food City 500, was the subject of debate, complaint and conjecture last season, first after it was introduced, then when the initial plan to phase in the vehicle for full-time use by 2009 was moved up a year.

Now that the so-called Car of Tomorrow is simply The Car, the criticism of it is softer, the shoulder shrugs less vigorous and the dissatisfaction less evident. At least outwardly.

"I don’t even know where to go with that," Matt Kenseth said Friday when asked to grade the COTs performance a year later. "From where we started to where we are right now with the program, we’re much better, and I feel a lot better about it from a competition standpoint and how we’re running compared to our competition, but the car really hasn’t changed."

Despite its rear wing and front-end splitter, the new car is less aerodynamic due to its more boxy design. The more strict rules regarding the aero setup has boxed in team engineers, but at least, Kenseth said, the standards are uniform.

"It’s the same for everybody," he said. "Everybody’s had to adapt."

Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, one of the car’s more soft-spoken critics, said downforce issues only crop up under certain circumstances, and not necessarily at Bristol.

"On the easier tracks where grip is not all that difficult, the short tracks where aero is not all that important, it has stayed very similar," he said. "When you get on the bigger tracks … it really puts everything to the test."

Judging by his team’s dominant performance down the stretch last year, it would appear Johnson’s team had a shorter learning curve than most.

"I think we’re all a little smarter now than when we came here last year," Johnson said. Since we’ve raced here last fall, I think the teams have improved, everybody knows what to look for, and I think the racing will be better this time than we had that fall."

Clint Bowyer, who will start Sunday’s Food City 500 third behind Johnson and Jeff Gordon, said his team still battles the less aerodynamic car, and the results aren’t always positive.

"That’s what’s so hard about this car this season, it seems like, it’s been hit-and-miss for us," he said after a sluggish morning of practice Friday. "On a mile-and-a-half, we were loose ... we could make the front end turn, but we couldn’t keep the back end up with it."

--- Perks of the points ---

Last year was no fun for Brian Vickers. Then again, no one at the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team enjoyed much about its nightmarish 2007 season.

Vickers and company missed 13 starts, failed to qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup and finished 38th in points, par for the course for the much-hyped Toyota teams in the manufacturer’s first year.

This year, however, Vickers is doing just fine. Currently 14th in the standings, his team will no longer have to worry about missing the show. After Sunday’s race at BMS, the top 35 in owner points are guaranteed race spots, meaning Vickers and crew can focus on racing.

"It’s gonna be a huge relief," he said. "To go through what we went through last year, nobody was ready for it, but whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

"To be able to go to the race track and focus on race trim, it will be nice to have that choice."

For those in the top 35, the immediate concern is to gain enough speed to qualify, meaning practice is focused on qualifying setup rather than getting a car dialed in for Sunday. The result upon making a race was a frantic effort to catch up with those teams who only had to focus on racing setups.

"Being able to run more race trim on Friday like most teams will help tremendously," Vickers explained. "There’s a big difference when you have 15 minutes of race practice and have a night to sleep on it as opposed to doing the two Saturday sessions."

Of course, just earning a spot in the top 35 doesn’t mean Vickers will automatically keep it.

"We can’t take anything for granted," Vickers said. "Getting through this weekend [and] having a good race will get us started. After going through what we went through last year, we’re just trying to cross our fingers and walk on egg shells and hope we don’t have to go through that again."

---- Let’s Organize ---

Several drivers believe those who reside behind the wheel should have more of a say in the policy-making of NASCAR, but don’t expect anyone to blurt out the word "union" – or anything like it.

"We won’t use that ‘union’ word, because that gets things stirred up," said veteran Dale Jarrett. "Does there need to be a panel? Yes."

Unlike the present trend where individuals visit the NASCAR hauler and speak their opinions, Jarrett believes a group of drivers speaking for the whole could be more effective – without ruffling as many feathers.

"Three to five guys ... that have a good handle on the sport could once in a while get together and talk to other guys and take their ideas to NASCAR and let them understand what these cars are like instead of having to do it through the press like what’s happened this year," he said.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also likes the idea of a drivers’ panel and agrees that only drivers can give an accurate representation of the ins and outs of driving.

"I would like to think that NASCAR does talk to the drivers, the Jeff Burtons and those types," he said. "I would like to think those things went on and there is a driver influence in a lot of their decisions. I would hope that is the way it is."

--- Gordon on Busch ---

Jeff Gordon sees something of himself in former teammate Kyle Busch, especially this year, as Busch has led the Toyota resurgence with his new team, Joe Gibbs Racing. The 23-year-old Busch’s hard-charging, aggressive style has won him races if not friends, but Gordon said he always knew what Busch could do.

"Kyle’s had a great start," Gordon said. "He’s a very talented driver and his team’s obviously given him some great equipment, so it’s no surprise to me."

Gordon, of course, was the original Wonderboy, winning a Sprint Cup championship just three years after his first Cup start in 1992, and posting the most dominant season in the modern era in 1998 with 13 victories. Gordon, however, built his career with patience and maturity, which is something he says Busch will need to reach his potential.

"Talent-wise, he’s through the roof," Gordon said. "One of the true tests for Kyle is does he have what it takes over a whole season to stay consistent. We’ve seen him go real fast, we’ve seen him win races, [but] has his maturity level and his experienced reached that point where he can do it on a consistent basis? Only time will tell."