This will make me watch NASCAR again!

[SteveR]

RICHMOND, Va. -- Monday and Tuesday a significant step in the development of the "Car of Tomorrow" for the Nationwide Series happens at Richmond International Raceway when six prototypes of the vehicle that eventually will replace the current car are tested.

Each of the four manufacturers currently competing in the series were invited to bring up to two cars, with drivers of their choice, to the first "official" test for the car that appears to be slated to be put into use at the start of the 2010 season.

Roush Fenway Racing plans to have two Fords at the test, with drivers Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Erik Darnell and Colin Braun slated to get seat time. Chip Ganassi Racing has prepared a Dodge chassis that will be wheeled by Ganassi development driver Bryan Clauson and former CGR driver David Stremme.

Chevrolet will be represented by Richard Childress Racing, using Scott Wimmer as its test driver; and Johnny Davis Motorsports, with Morgan Shepherd and Danny Efland sharing the seat. Toyota plans to have a single Camry, constructed by Michael Waltrip Racing, at the test with David Reutimann driving it Monday and development driver Josh Wise on Tuesday.

Of the four manufacturers currently racing in the series, only Toyota has announced its model for the Nationwide new car, the Camry that currently races in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series. The new car type would include Chevrolet's new Camaro, Ford's Mustang and Dodge's new Challenger.

"NASCAR was looking for a pony car, or a car that's different than what we have on the Cup Series," said Laerte Zatta, Toyota program manager for the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide series. "But we don't have a model that is very different. The Camry, Corolla and Avalon are very similar in design, so we decided to just go with the Camry.

"We were very open with NASCAR, because the other manufacturers were considering different models, but we don't have much option."

When the so-called "new car" began its development, team owner Jack Roush ultimately lamented his organization's delay in "getting up to speed" with the car's development.

But in the case of the Nationwide version of the car, which will use the same 110-inch wheelbase chassis that has been raced in the Cup Series since early in the 2007 season on short tracks and road courses and on every track this season, Roush Fenway jumped into it from the beginning and according to several garage sources has already "successfully" tested its car at Iowa Speedway.

On the other hand, at least two teams with big presences in the Nationwide Series, current owner point leader Joe Gibbs Racing and Rusty Wallace Racing, have not even begun versions of the car.

Steve Desouza, JGR vice president for the Nationwide Series, said his organization was concerned about detracting from its championship effort, but that it could have a car ready for the second planned test of the car in about a month following the Cup and Nationwide weekend at Charlotte on Oct. 10-11.

Davis, who has fielded at least two cars for virtually every Nationwide race this season despite a constant sponsorship scramble, said his prototype was assembled after investing "about 490 hours and a lot of money."

"This is where this series is going, and we're in this for the long haul," Davis said. "So once we were convinced that this was what was going to happen, we decided to do it and get in on the beginning of this car's development."


Can it be true?! Will we see the Mustang, Challenger, and 2010 Camaro in NASCAR?!

[BigAls87Z28]

There have been talk about this for a while now, at least since 2006. They talked about it like a "Trans Am" style racing.

[maroman88]

LOL all them vs a camry

[Knipps]

Originally Posted by maroman88

LOL all them vs a camry

yeah and the camry's engine will have ~twice the displacement of their production cars

[NastyEllEssWon]

it would be freaking great if they dont put the park benches on the rear

[NJSPEEDER]

......and once again they won't look like any of the cars who's names they will wear. NASCAR thinks the way to get companies involved and expand racing is to run an overblown spec series featuring outdated technology and pep boys spoilers.

[GP99GT]

OMGAH A TUBE CHASSIS SHEET METAL CAR WITH CAMARO HEADLIGHT STICKERS ON IT

[trashman01]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

......and once again they won't look like any of the cars who's names they will wear. NASCAR thinks the way to get companies involved and expand racing is to run an overblown spec series featuring outdated technology and pep boys spoilers.

those pep boy spoliers actually serve a purpose on the sprint cars, unlike a honda, there have been many times this season where a could woulda spun out adn smacked a wall or another car and didnt cuz of the wing and the downforce, hell i bet if kyle busch was in the older car, he woulda spun out alot more

[GP99GT]

holy crap look at that pep boys spoiler

[NJSPEEDER]

Originally Posted by trashman01

those pep boy spoliers actually serve a purpose on the sprint cars, unlike a honda, there have been many times this season where a could woulda spun out adn smacked a wall or another car and didnt cuz of the wing and the downforce, hell i bet if kyle busch was in the older car, he woulda spun out alot more

So what you are saying is that if you are driving a race car shaped like the box my sneakers came in, running the fancy underpinnings of an early 70's GMC truck as suspension, and lacking any modern ground effect or other grip producing air management system, a big goofy spoiler is useful?

Maybe they can evolve even more and keep running carbs for another 20 years while they are at it. lol

The cars are outdated and the sanctioning body is shrinking it's own talent pool by legislating and pricing it's way further and further away from all of the other top national and international sanctioning bodies.

Next year you will see the most dramatic drop when the Nationwide series has the car of 20 years ago thrust upon them. You can kiss all the smaller teams goodbye, further reducing the avenues for the young up and comers to make a name for themselves.

I used to be a NASCAR fan, but that was before the cookie cutter tracks and spec racing started. Back in the day when drivers weren't fined for indivuality and teams that came up with cutting edge ideas that weren't in the rule book got a pat on the back and kept a competitive advantage instead of suspensions and fines being handed out. Any more they are just evolving into the worlds most expensive spec series.

[1972LT1]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

So what you are saying is that if you are driving a race car shaped like the box my sneakers came in, running the fancy underpinnings of an early 70's GMC truck as suspension, and lacking any modern ground effect or other grip producing air management system, a big goofy spoiler is useful?

Maybe they can evolve even more and keep running carbs for another 20 years while they are at it. lol

The cars are outdated and the sanctioning body is shrinking it's own talent pool by legislating and pricing it's way further and further away from all of the other top national and international sanctioning bodies.

Next year you will see the most dramatic drop when the Nationwide series has the car of 20 years ago thrust upon them. You can kiss all the smaller teams goodbye, further reducing the avenues for the young up and comers to make a name for themselves.

I used to be a NASCAR fan, but that was before the cookie cutter tracks and spec racing started. Back in the day when drivers weren't fined for indivuality and teams that came up with cutting edge ideas that weren't in the rule book got a pat on the back and kept a competitive advantage instead of suspensions and fines being handed out. Any more they are just evolving into the worlds most expensive spec series.

I used to like NASCAR. When I started watching they still had Buick and Olds running. Rubbin' is racin'. And the cars looked like their street counterparts, and the street versions had v-8s. The only thing good about the cookie cutter car of tomorrow is the added safety to the driver. I liked it when the Poncho had better front downforce, the Monte had better ground effects,the T-bird had better spoiler etc.etc. and teams could brawl on the infield without being fined owners points,drivers points, and money and being put on probation. I would love to see a series that has cars that actually look like their street counterparts.

[DaSkinnyGuy]

If they moved into fuel injection then the teams have so many possiblities with tuning of the computers. Its easier to keep the motors even with the carb setup. But after awhile of fuel injection all teams would find the limit and everyone would be close to equal if not exactly.

[NJSPEEDER]

Why keep the engines even?

Manufacturers go racing to do two things, promote the brand and develop new technology. Since the cars are just sticker kit facsimiles of the original, that leaves option #2 which NASCAR has eliminated through their rule book.

Even with the carbs, NASCAR goes back and takes away any gains the manufacturers make because they don't think progress is fair. All they do is make the teams spend even more money on R&D to make tiny gains that only last the week or two until the sanctioning body figures it out.

It is a waste of time, that is why the big three are reducing their funding andthe last few years and may soon start finding their way out of "stock" car racing all together.

[SteveR]

Sorry man, but there is no developing new technology allowed in racing anymore

[edpontiac91]

Originally Posted by NJSPEEDER

Why keep the engines even?

Manufacturers go racing to do two things, promote the brand and develop new technology. Since the cars are just sticker kit facsimiles of the original, that leaves option #2 which NASCAR has eliminated through their rule book.

Even with the carbs, NASCAR goes back and takes away any gains the manufacturers make because they don't think progress is fair. All they do is make the teams spend even more money on R&D to make tiny gains that only last the week or two until the sanctioning body figures it out.

It is a waste of time, that is why the big three are reducing their funding andthe last few years and may soon start finding their way out of "stock" car racing all together.

We are not that far away from NASACR going the route of the IROC Firebirds. They will have 43 IDENTICAL cars built and a week before every race, all the teams will pick a number out of a jar. Stick on a paint job and your stickers and go racing. ANY difference in the way a car makes it to the finish line will be up to the driver. SOUND stupid, it's not that far off now with all the B.S. rules that have in place now. Earnhardt must be turning over in his grave. No wonder attendance is down, just look at what happened to the greatest race in the whole series(BRISTOL @ NIGHT). Now with the C.O.T. it has become as interesting as watching GRASS grow. I would love to see the original style Trans Am series come back. Keep the cars almost 100% stock and let the teams come up with their own ways of improving downforce and horsepower. It will filter into the production a hell of a lot faster than letting the companies do it on their own. Just look at what wars did for jet airplanes and vehicles. They NEVER would have developed that fast in peacetime.

[ins0mnia24]

If I remember correctly that was one of Gm's complaints was that none of cars represent anything anybody sells
And the Win on Sunday Sell on Monday thing is gone.
Thats why I don't blame them for investing their time into other autosports that features cars that are closer to the showroom car..

I have to admit watching Gm with the Cobalt team doing autocross or whatever was much more interesting because it was basically a showroom car with a little more boost and saftey stuff

[NJSPEEDER]

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

I would love to see the original style Trans Am series come back. Keep the cars almost 100% stock and let the teams come up with their own ways of improving downforce and horsepower.

I would love to see something similar. There was talk a few years ago that the LeMans Endurance series wanted to bring back GT3 as a catagory. The premise would be basically to only allow Bolt-On style modifications and spec'ing stock engine internals(with in some tolerance).

GT1 is basically a silhouette class, GT2 is a heavily modified factory tub, GT3 would be the next link in the chain to getting back to production cars. The problem is the expense for the teams. They would have to completely retro-engineer the way they did things since so many of the modifications that are automatic now would not be allowed any more.

I think it would be a fun series to watch. How many of you guys would like to see a base vette FRC with a cold air intake, full exhaust, and bolt on suspension running around the track on stock sized rims and tires? I think it would be a great test of the best production cars in the world.

[Tru2Chevy]

Yea, that certainly would be great to watch.

- Justin

[BonzoHansen]

COT with a funny nose. Hopes deflated, lol

[SupermanX24]

What's that? the challenger?

[BonzoHansen]

Point proven, NASCAR continues to suck eggs.

[BigAls87Z28]

Wow...Challenger "nose" on a COT body. Im excited!!

GM should pull out all together. ALMS/FIA, SCCA, Grand Am Rollex, Australian Supercar, things that will advance the breed.
Not like that is gunna help much come 2012 and CAFE requirements start to rise...

[r0nin89]

I'd like to watch racing where as said a team gets a stock car. They are given x amount of dollars and told to do whatever the hell they want with it. they must keep the drivetrain original numbers bud can mod anything else. At the end of given time they hit a track and see who wins.

I'd love to see them do something like that because I think true fans and especially gear heads would be just as interested in watching them build as race. I mean it could never work like nascar but say they had 2 weeks of filming and they put a show recapping what was done every 2 days. At the end of the 2 weeks you race, rinse and repeat. Dare I say it even with a different group of cars?

[edpontiac91]

Originally Posted by SupermanX24

What's that? the challenger?

NO, IT'S THE CAMLENGERSTANG. ANYBODY CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCE. JUST WAIT FOR THE DECALS TO SPRUCE IT UP!

[SteveR]

what...



the hell....



is that