Tony Stewart Calls NASCAR’s Frustrating Car of Tomorrow a ‘Flying Brick’

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COT, one of the strangest vehicles in NASCAR history and one that has drawn much criticism and ridicule. The car was developed largely in response to the 2001 Daytona 500 crash that killed NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt. Safety enhancements included moving the driver’s seat closer to the center of the cabin and “crushing” zones designed to absorb impact in the event of a crash.

It wasn’t a good sign that the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow, which had been in development for five years, was called “terrible” after its first race, which took place in March 2007 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Making this comment even more significant is the fact that it was made by none other than race winner Kyle Busch, who also expressed the view that the new cars “suck”.

Thus began the years-long existence of the so-called COT, one of the strangest vehicles in NASCAR history and one that has drawn much criticism and ridicule.

NASCAR put the car of tomorrow through rigorous testing just weeks before its 2007 debut at Bristol.

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The car was developed largely in response to the 2001 Daytona 500 crash that killed NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt’s death followed crashes that killed Tony Roper, Kenny Irwin Jr. and Adam Petty, and the loss of the sport’s biggest star has accelerated demands for NASCAR to improve its safety protocols.

After years of engineering, design and testing, the COT made its debut at the Bristol Spring Race in 2007. It was scheduled for around half of that year’s races before transitioning to on-time status. full in 2008.

The car wore a relatively short rear deck wing, a drastic change in car design for NASCAR. It was also “boxier” than the previous model. Safety enhancements included moving the driver’s seat closer to the center of the cabin and “crushing” zones designed to absorb impact in the event of a crash.

One of the most spectacular innovations tried on the car of tomorrow was the relocation of the driver’s seat to the middle of the cockpit.

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In addition to safety improvements, the car was designed to improve competition and reduce team costs. Its design was four inches wider and two inches taller than the previous model.

The COT used templates common to all manufacturer models and, in the opinion of many fans, this made it more difficult to identify cars by car manufacturer.

The much-maligned wing disappeared in 2010, replaced by a more traditional spoiler. No one seemed to pay attention.

The car’s safety upgrades proved effective, perhaps no more than in Michael McDowell’s vicious high-impact, multiple-rollover crash at Texas Motor Speedway in 2008. McDowell emerged unscathed from the wrecked car . There were other large wrecks that caused no significant injuries.

In the end, the car of tomorrow had gains and suffered losses. It was better on some tracks, worse on others, and drivers constantly complained about the car’s poor performance in traffic, which made it very difficult to pass. It didn’t help that as early as 2007, when teams were testing the new model, driver Tony Stewart described it as a “flying brick”.

Engineers and mechanics were frustrated with the very limited window for innovation the car allowed, adding to on-track frustrations for drivers who found themselves stuck in traffic jams with no realistic pathway.

In 2013, a new model, the Generation 6 car, left the car of tomorrow to assume a rather uncertain place in NASCAR history.