Richmond, VA (Sports Network) - NASCAR debuted its Car of Tomorrow for the Nationwide Series this week with two days of testing at the Richmond International Raceway, and the new car was well-received by the drivers who participated in the trial runs.
All four series manufacturers were on hand as Roush Fenway Racing Ford drivers Carl Edwards and David Ragan, as well as Bryan Clauson for Dodge, Scott Wimmer for Chevrolet and David Reutimann for Toyota, turned laps around the .75-mile oval in the new car on Monday and Tuesday morning.
"The car's been good, and it looks pretty cool too," Edwards said. "I was impressed. I hadn't seen the car before it was sitting on the ground. It drives really well. It feels a lot like the cars we're driving right now. Compared to when we first ran the new car in the Cup Series, this is a lot smaller change for us. I'm happy with it."
The Nationwide COT will have a different body and chassis from the current car. The car will be a 110-inch NASCAR certified chassis and will provide the same safety enhancements that are in place for the current Sprint Cup car. It will also make more bolt-on parts interchangeable. However, the new Nationwide car will continue to use the rear spoiler whereas the Sprint Cup car has a wing.
"We're still walking down the path of certifying the bodies for the cars in the Nationwide Series," series director Joe Balash said. "The manufacturers haven't made their official announcements yet on what body styles they'll have once we get to the race track."
Meanwhile, NASCAR was very pleased with the first test session of the new car.
"Going through the garage area and speaking to some of the drivers, the input I got was the car was very good," Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said. "A couple actually said they wished they could race this new car tomorrow."
After spending time in the car, Wimmer had a favorable opinion of it.
"I'm excited about the car," Wimmer said. "(There are) a lot of real positive things right now. We've been running through the normal things we do at a test and it's responding well."
The Nationwide COT is scheduled to test again October 13-14 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte.
source:sportsnetwork
