Video: Brett Bodine explains the COT

NASCAR Director of Cost Research, and former driver, Brett Bodine explains the key elements of NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow.

On January 12, 2006, NASCAR announced a universal car named "Car of Tomorrow" (or "CoT" for short) after a five-year design program sparked mostly due to the death of Dale Earnhardt, one of the sport's premier superstars in a tragic final lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500. The then-current cars were based on Holman Moody's 1966 Ford Fairlane. The primary design considerations were "safety innovations, performance and competition, and cost efficiency for teams."