Full Throttle

TThe following list of “did you know” Car of Tomorrow factoids were compiled by David Newton for ESPN. As painfully obvious the Half-Vast Staff™ of Full Throttle couldn’t leave sleeping dogs alone and had to add our two cents (cheap at twice the price) worth of commentary.

Newton’s contributions are in italics, the rest belongs to the “Staff.”

Did you know NASCAR will pay for the rear wings used on the new Car of Tomorrow, then distribute them at the track and collect them after each race?

And the point of this exercise is…? The wings are supposedly adjustable so what’s the point?

More to the point; Will they also compensate teams that lose additional places in the finishing order due to extended pit stops to repair/replace the wing in an accident? The days of thumping an inches high spoiler back into reasonable race condition will go the way of the Dodo Bird.

Did you know the COT, which is two inches taller and four inches wider than the current car, will fit inside the current haulers?

Did you know this may or may not be true, there seems to be some disagreement on the matter? When the Talladega test was held for the CoT a number of teams commented the CoT failed to fit inside the current haulers used by the majority of Cup teams.

As recent as the Busch Series Banquet the subject again was a topic of discussion by a couple teams. So which is it, at this point we’ll have to wait and see.

Did you know the inspection process at the track should be faster with the COT because of nine radio frequency IDs that will be installed on each chassis, allowing inspectors to verify its legitimacy electronically instead of manually?

Ah… excuse me, but that will only tell the inspectors whether the part is “official” and has been issued and previously inspected, then given to the individual teams for use. NASCAR can put a thousand RFIDs on the chassis that’s isn’t a guarantee the part hasn’t been altered in some way by a team looking to massage the mythical NASCAR rulebook. NASCAR can sell this line all they care to, we aren’t buying it.

Did you know the restrictor plate as we know it at Daytona and Talladega likely will become obsolete with the design of the COT engine package?

“As we know it,” cute terminology that. Don’t let this bit of obfuscation lead you to believe the restrictor plate is headed the way of ignition points and open trailers pulling into a NASCAR venue. A smaller plate will be the ultimate result, as tested already, not an unrestricted engine.

Did you know the COT looks more like the car on the street than the one currently on the track because the angles of the windows and headlights aren’t nearly as severe?

Lamentably the “Staff” will concede this point (let the flame war start in the comment section).

We will also add; Compare head-on or tail-end images of the CoT and the “old style” Cup car. In particular look at the area that meets the side windows. Teams for a number of years have shifted the entire body to the right as it sits on the chassis to maximize weight transfer. As a result the area at the side windows have what can be best described as a “ledge” on the right side of the car as opposed to the left that is straighter.

The CoT by design is centered on the chassis, teams will have to shift various components inside the car to get the same weight transfer properties as the “old style” Cup car.

So there you have it, what “you didn’t know” about the Car of Tomorrow. And what NASCAR and ESPN writer David Newton either don’t know, or are avoiding. Take your pick.