Bristol Motor Speedway in March of 2007 was the debut of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Car of Tomorrow. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
It appears that those in the garages, grandstands and media who have been waging a war of words against the Car of Tomorrow could be on the verge extracting a conditional surrender from NASCAR.
Ramsey Poston, managing director of corporate communications for NASCAR, said Monday that rear-deck wings could be removed from Sprint Cars early this coming season, though not by the start of the season.
Poston said that should NASCAR decide to replace the wings with vertical spoilers, it will not mean that the controversial COT has been killed. He suggested that a better way to view such a move would be a “re-introduction” of the new car as other key elements of it would remain in place.
“The fact is is that we have had some great racing in the last few years with this (COT), including the wing,” Poston said. “But it’s no secret that drivers and fans don’t all like the wing; just don’t like the way it looks. They don’t feel that it has the look of what they expect a race car to be.
“OK. If we can go back to the spoiler and have no loss of competition, or if we see improved competition the decision is even easier, then we’ll probably head down that road. So, we’ve got some work to do.”
The initial stages of that work are already under way.
NASCAR is in the process of meeting face-to-face with every driver and every owner in the Sprint Cup series. Team and driver views on a variety of issues are being discussed in those meetings, which have included such officials as NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France and president Mike Helton.
The COT is a major issue in those talks.
“They’ve only gotten halfway through the meetings, but the drivers have come up with a lot of ideas and thoughts,” Poston said. “We’re going to take them under serious consideration to see what we can apply as it relates to the car. The meetings so far, have been extremely positive.”
