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Friday night at Daytona, we finally got to see the culmination of a few years of development with the debut of the Nationwide Series’ new car.  I’d say NNS COT, but I heard that NASCAR doesn’t want it referred to as the COT, so instead I’ll call it the “new car.”  The race was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #3 Wrangler Impala, and all things considered, I believe we can call the race a success.

There was concern in the garage area after the testing and practice sessions that the race may have turned into the type of race we saw on Saturday night.  Many drivers said the cars were unstable in the draft and were difficult to drive.  Add to that the inexperience of many of those in the field, and it appeared we had the perfect recipe for disaster.  Instead, what we saw was a solid race where drivers didn’t take crazy chances and wreck their race cars.  We even got to see an exciting two lap shootout for the finish.

Getting to the point where the new car could finally be debuted was a long process.  A ton of R&D work had to be done by the teams and by NASCAR.  And implementation hasn’t been without it’s critics, as there are plenty of pros and cons. 

For the crews, the car presents some new challenges, as the inspection process is now much more rigorous.  The cars must be certified just like their Cup brethren and go through a very similar inspection process at the track.  All of that adds up to more work for the teams.

I can tell you that pit stops aren’t much different then they were previously.  The new cars may actually be a little easier to service then the old cars, partly because of the larger wheel openings.  The new cars are very similar to the Cup COT, and the Cup crew guys who also work in the Nationwide Series will have no problems adjusting.  For the NNS only crews, the right to left travel may be slightly different then the old car, but it should be a fairly easy transition.

The switchover has also been tough on some teams, especially the small operations.  Many have been working long hours to both build the new cars and maintain their fleet of the older version.  The cost to build a fleet of the new car will certainly be substantial, but moving forward, it should help save the teams money.  The new design helps cut down the need for specialized cars for the different track types.

Nationwide teams will go back to the older version for the upcoming few races, but the new car will reappear at Michigan, Richmond, and Charlotte later in the season.  Full implementation will happen for the 2011 season, and I personally think it’s a good move.  The unique (and new) body styles will give the NNS some of it’s identity back, and should strengthen the fans’ perception of the series.  Hopefully this move will also help NASCAR not only make the necessary changes to return the Nationwide Series to it’s proper form, but also serve as a test pad for improvements to the Cup COT.

So what were your thoughts of the race on Friday?  Did you think it was a successful first outing?  What is your opinion of how the new car looks?  Is NASCAR moving in the right direction?

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The Dayonta test for the new Nationwide Series COT is complete.  Teams took to the 2.5 mile track on Tuesday and Wednesday to get familiar with the new car and to help NASCAR gather data ahead of it’s debut on July 2nd at the Subway Jalapeno 250.  Most of the drivers who participated said the car must be driven differently then the old car, but that it would lead to more exciting racing.  Those battles at the front of the NNS fields however, will probably feature more Cup drivers then ever before.

The redesigned car features many of the safety measures that were first implemented with the Cup Series COT.  The Nationwide versions also have bodies that more closely resemble their stock brethren.  The new Mustang, Challenger, Impala, and Camry bodies have been lauded by the drivers and the fans.  With the exception of the sheet metal though, much is the same between the Cup and Nationwide cars now.  The two COTs are so similar in fact, that they share the same chassis, wheelbase, and other components.  And it’s those similarities that will widen the gap between the Nationwide only guys and the Cup “Busch-Whackers.” (I will never let it die!)

Think about it.  While younger drivers have been coming up and learning on cars that are not too different then the current Nationwide car, Cup drivers have had the last few years to learn what it takes to drive and setup a COT car.  They will now be able to use that COT knowledge on Saturdays as well.  The younger, Nationwide only guys who don’t have that experience will suffer. 

Having the cars be so markedly different at least gave some of the younger drivers a fighting chance.  And by fighting chance, I mean Cup drivers who still dominate the series and win every race.  Before, information couldn’t really be shared between the two series, and having to constantly be transitioning from car to car at least made things interesting.  Now we don’t even have that.

Don’t get me wrong though, I certainly don’t think NASCAR should scrap the new COT.  In fact, I’m a big proponent of the introduction.  The safety innovations are certainly needed, and transitioning back to cars that appear more stock will do wonders with the fans.  I just wish we could find a way to fairly limit participation among the Cup crowd.

It isn’t all bad news though.

Among my doom and gloom there is a silver lining.  While these younger drivers might struggle now, their transition to Cup rides in the future will be much smoother and much shorter.  The skill-set necessary to make an NNS COT go fast won’t be too different then what they will need on Sundays.  And that will be good for the future of the sport and everyone involved.

Let’s just hope the Nationwide Series owners have enough patience to let these kids learn.

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After years of complaints from fans (and drivers for that matter) over the looks of the Cup Series COT, NASCAR undoubtedly didn’t want a repeat as they developed the Nationwide COT.

This weekend we got our first glimpse of all four stickered up Nationwide COT’s. I don’t know how you feel about the cars, but in my opinion the manufacturers and teams (of course with NASCAR) did a good job making the cars look more like a production model.

I was fortunate enough to see a Challenger COT early in development and I was happy to see through the process there weren’t any major changes to it’s overall look. By far I think it’s the best looking of the new cars. The Mustang turned out well too.

I think Chevrolet missed out here though in not bringing the Camaro into the sport; though I understand their position. Mark Kent, Director of GM Racing said earlier this year:

“At the end of the day, because of the quest for very close competition and the need to have templated bodies in that series, we felt that by forcing the Camaro into the Nationwide templates that we were compromising the body lines of an iconic car. So at the end of the day we just could not get the Camaro in the Nationwide series to satisfy our requirements.”

It’s understandable they didn’t want to murder the body lines of a car they’ve been working on for many years. Still how cool would that have been?

I digress. NASCAR though now has a problem on its hands. They have visually attractive and realistic looking Nationwide cars competing with the less than handsome Cup Series COT.

After meetings this past week with drivers and team officials, NASCAR said they would make changes in 2011 to the front fascia of the Cup Series COT, presumably to make them look a little better up against the Nationwide COT. Let’s hope the changes are enough.

Now I know many of you aren’t fans of the COT and from the comments I have read elsewhere people are still complaining that this new car is  still “cookie cutter”. In NASCAR’s and the team’s defense though these things could help bring down costs and will certainly make the racing safer; the hope of course is that racing will be better. Whatever the case, it’s hard to complain about the looks of the car; this is the closest we’ve seen to a production model (in my opinion) since the late-80s or early-90s.

With these new good looking cars though, let’s just hope competition isn’t the cost we all pay.

So any thoughts on the new Nationwide COT? Anything you would have liked to have seen done differently? Any hopes for the Cup Series COT? Talk amongst yourselves.