[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

But, Bob, you and I know the wheelbase of the current showroom model has nothing to do with the race car's wheelbase. They just stretch or shrink the body parts to line up with the race car's wheel locations.

And I challenge anyone to show sufficient similarities between the 2008 Dodge Charger and the 2008 Dodge Charger COT other than the front bumper cover which allow one to identify them as "sisters".

Heck, include the front bumper cover, I don't care. Ya still can't do it!

Race cars, especially stock cars, can sometimes be constructed of diverse body parts without substantially affecting the look of the car.

In our 2nd race of the 3 this past year with our Late Model we suffered some nose damage. We found a brand new (albeit with lot's of "garage wear") '99 Monte Carlo nose cover in the attic. Since it was only for one race, we grafted it onto the car. Looked pretty good on a '96 Thunderbird!!! (That's the body that was on the Late Model at the time.)

Which brings us full circle to another of my rants. It's no longer a "stock car," neither in appearance or even semi technically. It's a NA__AR-designed race car. They call them "Chevies," "Fords," "Dodges,"
or "Toyotas, solely for the money they can glam from the manufacturers for the privilege of having their logo's and and light decals on the things, and and whatever technical assistance these manufacturers provide.

The Toyota which Smoke will pilot this season is as much a Toyota as the car Dario Franchitti drove in the Indy 500 last year.

Like the fact that the BGN Series is no longer a development series but rather just another way for the tracks to sell tickets the day before the Cup race, the lost of the stock car is something I'll just have to accept. Not like but accept.

The topic of this thread is a bit wrong, IMHO. The COT's aren't causing the wrecks. They don't drive themselves. It's the drivers. Every driver has pretty much the same car as the next guy and they don't work the same as the down force car. So, just like the open wheel drivers will bend some metal getting use to the NA__AR race car, the Cup drivers will bend some metal getting used to this new car. Natural evolution.

What concerns me is will they be able to run side by side on a cookie-cutter track? They're going into Daytona, the biggest and most famous race of the season in a car that hasn't been proven on the Daytona track; a track MUCH different than the Talladega track they ran it on last season.
My biggest fear is that the race will end up being like the first Bristol race of last season, where no one knew what the car would do and there was only a minimal amount of actual racing.
My hope is that the Daytona 500 will be exciting and marred by few crashes.

[Racer Duck]

unfortunately, Bob, there are folks who believe an exciting race is one with many wrecks.

I, too, hope those folks see a boring race.

BTW: it's no longer the Car Of Tomorrow, aka COT -- now it's the Car Of Now, aka CON. that name seems somehow apropos...

[thunderfoot]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

But, Bob, you and I know the wheelbase of the current showroom model has nothing to do with the race car's wheelbase. They just stretch or shrink the body parts to line up with the race car's wheel locations.

And I challenge anyone to show sufficient similarities between the 2008 Dodge Charger and the 2008 Dodge Charger COT other than the front bumper cover which allow one to identify them as "sisters".


Heck, include the front bumper cover, I don't care. Ya still can't do it!

Race cars, especially stock cars, can sometimes be constructed of diverse body parts without substantially affecting the look of the car.

In our 2nd race of the 3 this past year with our Late Model we suffered some nose damage. We found a brand new (albeit with lot's of "garage wear") '99 Monte Carlo nose cover in the attic. Since it was only for one race, we grafted it onto the car. Looked pretty good on a '96 Thunderbird!!! (That's the body that was on the Late Model at the time.)

At least it had some kind of class. A FORD!