86 Turds and Counting |
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Topics: Car of Tomorrow
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Jeremy T. Sellers
Jerm's Joint
October 27, 2008
We were all well aware that NASCAR was working to design a COT program for the Nationwide series, right? Oh, I thought you were...I guess they've been keeping it pretty hush-hush. However when I heard of the original idea, I was on board. Toyota was going to stick with the Camry, Ford was to introduce the Mustang, and Chevy, well, NASCAR wanted a design for the Camaro but General Motors hasn't got their act together yet. Those body designs would definitely give each series its own identity, which is what NASCAR and the fans wanted to see once again. Well, we THOUGHT NASCAR wanted the Nationwide series to have it's own identity. What the hell were we thinking?
I was able to see a photograph of the Nationwide Series version of the COT. It was simple. Posted for everyone now to see on NASCAR.com, it appears to be an identical turd to the ones currently being run at the cup level. Oh, I'm sure there are differences NASCAR considers miles away from the Sprint Poop being run now, but the only visible difference for the fans is that these have the "Nationwide" decal across the top of the windshield. Fans want to see a physical difference! They could care less what is under the sheet metal, it's what is on the outside that counts to the people buying tickets. NASCAR was well on their way when they presented the COT, keeping the Nationwide car the same. Now, it appears the differences are minute, and NASCAR is pressuring teams to have some sort of program ready for a select few races in 2009 with full implementation by 2010. Testing has already been conducted and more is to come. They should just have a unified series titled the Sprint/Nationwide Fecal Matter Series. Granted, these are prototypes, and nothing has been finalized, but the horizon line doesn't look good.
So, let's poke some humor at the pit of eternal of peril. (I'm a HUGE Monty Python fan, by the way) Here-in-lies the truck series. Fresh with its brand new sponsor, Camping World. (Which means another decal for us all to collect, golly gee!) Someone had to step up to the plate for Craftsman's continual sinking ship, and what better fit for the racing community than Camping World. After all, camping and racing go hand-in-hand. However, it leaves us to wonder what NASCAR has in store for changing the truck configuration. Remember now, initially, the trucks were going faster than the COTs when they first arrived on the scene. Surly by now the governing body has to figure out a way to screw up this series as well, right? It's what they do; go out of their way to jack things around, making it more and more less appealing. So, the COT goes without saying, Car of tomorrow...now...you can't use the same acronym for trucks. Soon, we'll have two series, 86 turds (43 each one), and probably some time down the road we'll have the TOT. Truck of Tomorrow. How half-witted does that sound? Sounds like NASCAR to me.
My rant for now...ugh.