The Future Has Arrived

Sunday is the big day for the Car of Tomorrow, which has been been the focus of NASCAR's Research and Devlepment team for the past seven years.

About the new era of cars, NASCAR touts improved safety for drivers and better cost management for teams.

They also claim it will improve competition.

I'll reserve my judgment on that 'til after Bristol, where, according to former champion and ESPN broadcaster Rusty Wallace, cars will be all over the racetrack:

"The Car of Tomorrow is a car that I thought would have unloaded and debuted in Charlotte, Michigan or a bigger track. To take it to a short track right away is surprising to many people. It's going to be unbelievable. The COT is designed with a splitter in the front of the car and it limits how far the car can travel into the turns and how far the nose can come down. Before, teams could have run any type of shocks and spring packages to run well, but the splitter on the COT really limits the travel of the car. This weekend we'll see cars all over the race track, bouncing up and down. Teams will be running very stiff packages to keep the car off the ground and it's going to be very exciting to see. With less downforce we should see a lot of sliding around and I expect to see a lot of wrecks. It's going to be exciting to see because of the peculiarity of the car and it's so uncommon for what we've had for years and years."