A reasonable voice on the COT

[Hoss Ghoul]

Loathe as I am to start a 4th or 5th or Xth thread on this....it'd be nice if we had a moderator-combine all the treads into one.

I heard some comments today from Earnhardt on the COT that made alot of sense. In general he seems fine with the car, as do most of the veterans actually. They know it is that NASCAR cliche "it is what it is", and they will have to get used to it, so no sense whining about it.

However, it was his comments on NASCAR Now that really made a point. Not quoting here, but essentially he said that the cars were irrelevant, it is the tracks that produce the racing. He believes the racing will be the same with the COT, in the long run.

I tend to agree. Sure, if you went back to 1970's or 1980's cars the difference in the racing would be huge. But, the reality is, as much as the spoiler and front splitter distinguish the COT from the jelly bean cars of the last 5+ years, overall the change is not that great. Sophisticated chasis, pushrod engines, and sheetmetal molding techniques are still in place. Even with the downforce cut, the overall DF is still far greater than 70's and 80's and most likely late 90's racing.

We should not expect a huge change on the intermediate tracks. Places like Atlanta and Charlotte(historically) will likely continue to provide side by side racing, while modified 1.5 milers like Vegas and Homestead do as well. Kansas, Chicago, California, and to a lesser extent Texas will continue to provide less side by side action....no matter what. It is the tracks that matter.

With Rockingham X2 is gone, Darlington is missing a race, and slightly further back. there is no more N. Wilk. X2...WHILE ALSO adding more 1.5-2.0 milers and expanding the schedule, it is unrealistic to expect anything similar to what NASCAR once had. The COT may slightly improve racing on 1.5 milers(I believe it will), but it won't be anything major. The greatest advantage IMO is that it makes the drivers have to drive the cars harder, losing 5 or so mph, etc, on lap time is irrelevant, especially if the benefit is showing who's the better driver vs who has the better engineer/car.

[call_me_andrew]

it is unrealistic to expect anything similar to what NASCAR once had.

So we should destroy NASCAR and start fresh with a new scantioning body?

I'm up for that.

[dont_be_jack]

So we should destroy NASCAR and start fresh with a new scantioning body?

I'm up for that.

That'll just be the same thing either from the start or over time? Why waste the time on that?

[Mark in Oshawa]

God, Andrew you are radical. I wouldn't blow up NASCAR. Heck, I didn't really see that much radically wrong with NASCAR as it was, and think the COT was probably overkill to addressing concerns, but they are on the road now so they cant really go back.

The tracks to make the racing, and it is the greatest curse going. Some tracks with their geometrically perfect banks and wide layouts such as Fontana, Kansas and Chicago make for dull races. Give me a bent out of shape oval with bumps and weird transititions like Darlington any day. Heck, I like Texas only because it has a narrow groove and guys are forced to really get up on the wheel and drive the place. Some tracks just suck. I love short track and road race NASCAR events, and I like Charlotte and Texas. Superspeedway racing is alright but isn't really what the other 32 events are about. Jr. is dead on when he says it is the tracks that are the issue, and they wont change.

The success of the sport is also causing some of its issues. The bigger 1.5 mile tracks were built to get large grandstands in and provide good TV angles. They were NOT designed really to be interesting to the driver or a challenge. Heck, some would argue ovals are not a challenge, but it wouldn't be me. I realize that oval racing is a game of inches and keeping a car on the knife edge for 4 hours, but some tracks just don't do that IMO. Not sure what the solution is either. I don't think the COT will cure the dull race syndrome, for the wing and splitter don't do much to address aeropush. They are aero devices, and subject to aeropush, although by engineering, maybe less so. The jury is out on the COT for making racing better. I do know they aint going back, so we better learn to love what we will be getting.