Drivers give CoT thumbs down
"Everybody got what they wanted," he said. "They got to see a wreckfest, just like Talladega. I haven't finished a race here yet in a Nextel Cup car. I don't ever plan to.
"I just come to put on a show for everybody and see when I wreck."
Biffle felt that the visibility issue drivers say was caused by the wing contributed to his problematic outing.
"It's unfortunate we've got to race like that because we can't see out of the cars," he said. "That's what most of these wrecks are caused from because we just can't see anything." Scenedaily.com
[Editor's Note: We're not sure why NASCAR calls their latest car the Car of Tomorrow. In fact there isn't anything on the new car that relates to any car anywhere on this planet, and especially not a future one given how antiquated the CoT is. It really should be termed the CoY – Car of Yesterday.]
10/08/07 So what to make of NASCAR’s great car-of-tomorrow experiment at Talladega Speedway?
Well, if drivers couldn’t do much here, at this easy-to-drive track, and if they didn’t feel comfortable enough to put on a decent show, that certainly doesn’t bode well for February’s season-opening Daytona 500, if run with these cars.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and some of his fellow drivers gave the new car a less-than-ringing endorsement: “I don’t think it’s where it needs to be right now," Earnhardt said. “I think we could try something else to get to where we need to get.
“But we need to take it easy on NASCAR…."
Others yesterday weren’t as gentle.
Ryan Newman, who had a great chance at giving car owner Roger Penske his first superspeedway victory: “It was crazy. I think the racing was not very good. The racing was disappointing. To see single-file racing, and the guy that wins the race is sitting in the back all day, just lounging around…. That’s not racing to me.
“I hope this wasn’t what NASCAR intended with this car.
“I’m not complaining about the car, because the old car did relatively the same thing. We’ve got to do something where we can race a little bit. I mean, I was driving around with one hand, running 15th, just riding. It’s not racing."
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who finished one-two, and most of the Jack Roush men, fell right to the very rear of the field at the start, hoping to avoid “the big one."
“This wasn’t a typical Talladega race," Gordon said. “You didn’t see the packs you usually do here.
“This package might work perfectly at Daytona, but I don’t think it’s the right package for here.
“I’ve never yawned in a car before, but I was yawning. I still think we need to work on this car a little. The bump-drafting is so drastic, the closing rate is so much, we need to make a few adjustments.
“I knew the race was going to be spectacular at the end; the racing here is always spectacular at the end. But I don’t think this is the type of racing we want to see – guys running single-file, guys running in the back."
“We talked about it (before the race)," McMurray, one of those Roush men, said, “and we felt like there was going to be a big wreck because of the way the cars draft. And it doesn’t really matter what happens the first 450 miles, because you’re just riding around.
“With 50 laps to go we all decided we’d go up and try to race. I was just waiting on it (the crash) to happen.
“We tested here and I think everyone already had a pretty good opinion that it wasn’t going to be that great racing. Matt, Greg and I, and few others, just rode around in the back. I could see all the guys just running single-file.
“It was a pretty boring race to watch." Winston Salem Journal