Pourme's Racin' Nation       

In 2007 when NASCAR introduced the Car of Tomorrow (COT) I pissed and moaned to all that would listen. "we are headed in the path of IROC cars" I would say. NASCAR was trying to create a "level playing field"..."At the expense of butt ugly cars!" I responded. This was in the days before social media when my wife and a few readers of NASCAR Cup Scene Magazine were about the only ones that heard my words of wisdom.

There is no denying the positive effect the COT together with Safer Barriers and cockpit cocoon innovations have had on elevating the safety aspect of our sport. Currently, with the introduction of the Gen-Six car I listen intently when I hear NASCAR and the manufactures brag about how much these machines resemble the "showroom" cars. These cars will reinvigorate the fans! They will bring NASCAR Fans back to the show rooms! Fans will turn back to the sport!....well......

I TOLD YOU SO!.... DAMN IT I DID!......

I was in Charlotte in December for the 1st NASCAR test session for these beauties & let me tell you, although few were in full dress, these cars are lookers! What's more, aero grip has been decreased and mechanical grip has been increased. The "old school" feel has in some measure, yet to be determined, been restored in these cars according to Dale Jr and others. I'm thinking that if your driver has only competed in Cup with COT cars, he will have a learning curve to deal with. The drivers and teams that negotiate this transition earliest will have a jump start on the season.

Hear that sound? That's the sound of crew chiefs shredding their notebooks! Everybody starts with a clean sheet of paper. This will benefit any team going through a metamorphous of sorts. Penske Racing is switching from Dodge to Ford. This will help reigning Sprint Cup Champion Brad Keselowski and his new team mate Joey Lagano in their already challenging transition. Everybody is starting over so this is a great time to be making major changes. Who benefits from all this chaos? WE DO! The fans are the beneficiary of all this uncertainty! Unpredictablity will be the catalyst for a level of excitement not experienced in NASCAR in many seasons, in 2013! I predict a season full of surprise endings like never before. Some teams will figure this new car out while others will struggle. Will NASCAR give more spoiler, lower valence to the team that squeals the loudest as in times past? Questions abound! I'm more excited about this upcoming season than I can ever recall!

As we talk, write & argue about NASCAR during this off season, teams are busy working late, cutting these COT bodies off of their highly refined chassis. On these chassis those skilled craftsmen will form the machines that forty-three of the best drivers in the world will use to make history and create memories that we will carry with us for a lifetime.

What happens to the COT sheet metal being tossed out the back door? I have already seen video of it as it piles up and gets tossed aside. No doubt it will find it's way to EBAY, charity auctions and finally to the walls of bars, pubs and Man Caves throughout the world! So, to that I say....

REST IN PIECES...CAR OF TOMORROW!