Full Throttle

Remember the Nationwide Series Car of Tomorrow test held at at Richmond International Raceway Last September?

The Ford Fusion pictured above was one of those that were tested that day. Toyota tested a Camry and Chevy tested a 2010 version of the Impala SS.

However, what I missed at the time was the Dodge tested.

It’s pictured below - it’s distinctly Challenger-like with more than a mere sticker set for the headlights and grille. Thanks to NASCAR’s decision to relax A-pillar-and-forward “manufacturer identity” modifications there’s actually a Challenger inset grille and what appears to be raised hood areas just like the real car!

The image was found after being prompted to search for it by a Lee Spencer article.

Lee is reporting Pony Cars are part of the mix when the NNS CoT is placed into service.

But it will be only half a loaf, so to speak.

Dodge will run the Challenger while Ford will wrap their NNS entry in a Mustang shell.

Chevy stays with the Impala SS and Toyota, having no option after dumping their two-door Solara from their model line-up, stay with the Camry for NNS.

Spencer spoke with an unnamed NASCAR official at MIS this past weekend who spoke of the new NNS COTs and, “beamed,” is the way she described his enthusiasm about the styling of the car.

“Ten-fold better than a Cup car,” the official said of the designs, which must be submitted for approval by June 26 according to the NASCAR Mythical Rule Book.

There’s still a lot of questions to be answered, chief among them is what the hell’s wrong with Chevy? I find it hard to believe they will leave NNS to its chief rival for domestic sales to the Blue Oval.

On the other hand, there’s the “Government Motors” factor, but frankly that shouldn’t matter, it’s not like Chevy, ot any car maker, will need to fork out cash for this switch.

Obviously Chrysler doesn’t think being beholden to the Car Czar is a problem. Yet.

The second question is when and how the new car will be introduced? I’m betting with the current economic conditions it won’t be in 2010. We’ll see.

Moreover, if NASCAR stays with the present intro schedule of two road courses along with the Talladega and Daytona events for 2010, they may suck the economic life out of many of the NNS teams.

With all factory support pulled from NNS teams they are already under tremendous financial strain. If NASCAR forces them to race and prepare both the old car and CoT it’s revisiting the nightmare Sprint Cup teams endured in the 2007 season.

In one word it would be - NUTS!

Two final points, below is Carl Edward’s thoughts after the first NNS test.

“The car’s been good and it looks pretty cool, too,” Carl Edwards said of the test last September. “I was impressed. I hadn’t seen the car before it was sitting on the ground. It drives really well; it feels a lot like the cars we’re driving right now. Compared to when we first ran the new car in the Cup Series this is a lot smaller change for us. I’m happy with it.”

Finally, a bit of speculation.

The Daytona Suits made it well known in recent days they were in favor of other manufactures entering the sport although any potential entry date is a far distance over the horizon I suspect.

So who could that be? Keep in mind as per the Mythical Rulebook a manufacturer has to build cars in the U.S. in order to be eligible for competition.

The obvious choice would be Honda as they were reportedly in on a redesign of the so-called Engine of the Future that eventually was shelved.

Second inline I suspect would be Nissan. Their showroom line-up includes the two and four-door Altima that would fit the NASCAR mold and in the advertising sense is at a price point that would be advantageous to Nissan.

BMW would be eligible as they produce the BMW X3 mid-size sport utility vehicle, in addition to the Z4, X5, and X6 models in its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.

Another candidate, albeit highly unlikely and not known for their “Redneck-ness,” is Mercedes who build their Luxo UTE in, of all places, Vance, Alabama.

Flat Rock. Michigan is not only home to the ARCA Series, ARCA’s home track but also the manufacturing plant that is the birthplace of one of the sportiest family sedans around, the Mazda 6. (Known in some markets as the Mazda Atenza)

So, take your pick which would be the most likely to enter NASCAR at some level?

My two centavos is on Honda. I’d also place 5 centavos on none of them entering.