Has Nationwide COT made its last aero test for manufacturer identity pieces?
SPARTA, Ky. – The Nationwide Series car of tomorrow may have made its last wind tunnel test for the four manufacturers’ identity pieces, series director Joe Balash indicated Friday at Kentucky Speedway.
Balash said NASCAR and representatives from Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota participated in a wind-tunnel test Wednesday, and NASCAR engineers are analyzing the data.
The wind tunnel work was performed on the NASCAR-built car, with each manufacturer adding its own pieces to the nose and tail.
“That gives us the repeatability on the whole rest of the car versus the manufacturers’ pieces,” Balash said.
The focus of Wednesday’s test was on the nose, with each manufacturer testing pieces for the upper structure above the bumper line, Balash said.
Balash said the test was “one of our final or next-to-final” times in the wind tunnel.
Once the aerodynamic package of the car is finalized, NASCAR will test it on the track later this year. NASCAR hopes to unveil the car for competition next year, perhaps as early as August.
But several team owners have balked at that idea, hoping NASCAR pushes its introduction back to 2010.
