Pondering the Failure of NASCAR's CoT

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Has NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow failed? I’m sure that Brian France and Mike Helton  would say no, but the jury may be hung.

There are many definitions of failure that the CoT fits.  Rather than saving teams money, by limiting the inventory of cars required to compete, the CoT,  to quote Mike Mulhern …

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“has become a major financial drain on teams, because of the extreme technology needed to try to master what is widely seen as a misguided physics project.”

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failure: noun  - The act or fact of failing to pass a course, test, or assignment.

There is fear that some manufacturers may curtail their support for NASCAR. We already see that in the - soon to be - Camping World Truck Series. You can’t blame the CoT for that. But the new car continued a trend toward look-a-like, generic bodies that make NASCAR less viable as a brand builder than it once was.

failure: noun - The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends: the failure of an experiment.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers have  been about as successful as any racing the new car. But two-time defending champion and current Sprint Cup points leader Jimmy Johnson and the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr ….

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criticized NASCAR for not being more willing to consider changes to that design to make the racing and passing better …more

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failure: noun  - The condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short: a crop failure.

The one stated goal that seems to have been achieved is that of building a safer race car. That’s a good thing. But not enough of one.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.