Economy, testing ban could hamper Nationwide car of tomorrow

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor

Saturday, November 29, 2008

NASCAR Nationwide Series drivers race their cars during the Dollar General 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway last month.

Streeter Lecka
Getty Images

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The NASCAR Nationwide Series car of tomorrow is in a bit of a holding pattern as the series heads into the offseason, especially after the sanctioning body banned most testing for 2009.

The car, originally slated to begin running at the start of the 2010 season, has been officially tested on the track twice, the last being at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October.

Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash said manufacturers Chevrolet and Toyota have some more work to do on the noses of their version of the car, and NASCAR officials would likely test their vehicles in the wind tunnel in January.

Balash isn't sure when the car will be tested again on the track, though it does need more work on the engineering and mechanical pieces.

"Whether the economics tell us to do something different, that's going to be a lot of conversation with team owners throughout all of 2009," Balash said.

"Six months ago, we were talking about more testing with the teams, not less. So we've got to keep our fingers in the pulse of what's happening business-wise."

That doesn't necessarily mean NASCAR could delay the cars debut later than the beginning of the 2010 season.

"I think it's too early to tell," Balash said. "We've got to get some months behind us and really watch what's happening, business-wise. We're a reflection of what's happening in the country. There are a lot of things that play into that."

Only six Nationwide teams have tested the COT on the track, though even those who have the new car aren't going to break the bank getting it ready for 10.

"There's a lot of things that have to happen between now and then," said Will Lind, general manager for Richard Childress Racing's Nationwide team.

"We're not going to worry about it until on up into the year. We're going to continue to do the development work that Chevrolet wants us to do. We're still dabble in it, but were going to focus on running what we've got."

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Comments

7 responses to "Economy, testing ban could hamper Nationwide car of tomorrow". Post a Comment.

1

Keith Johnson said:
Nov 29, 2008 at 1:32 PM
If NASCAR forces Nationwide teams to build new cars for 2010 there won't be 30 teams at the first race. Most have No full time sponsors and maybe no help from Chevy, Ford or Dodge NASCAR had better delay this bad move. Look what the COT did to the Cup teams and the fan base. GET RID OF THE CHASE. Three championships for Jimmie Johnson in only 30 races is a JOKE!
2

bill thompson said:
Nov 29, 2008 at 3:56 PM
DUMP THE COT........
3

Pat Draper said:
Nov 29, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Leave the nationwide cars alone. The old car (so to speak) is more fun to watch and i'm sure the drivers and owners would perfer that. Nascar has a habit of rushing into things then can't back out. Let nationwide stay the way it is for at least 3 or 4 yrs until the teams are well on there way to getting back on there feet. Don't rush them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4

Andrew Briscoe said:
Nov 29, 2008 at 5:16 PM
The Nationwide COT is almost as expensive (if not more, comparably speaking) as all the Cup teams going to their COT. The problem is that the designs are so much different than the current car, that the fleets that teams have now are automatically obsolete.

However, whether NASCAR holds off on implementing the NW COT (like they should, and should have with Cup) is really something that we shouldn't have to discuss; the decision should have been made already that it's WAY too expensive for a team to build one of these. There's a reason that only 5 teams had one built at the first test of it, and only Davis Motorsports (if I remember the name right) had one built that wasn't an overly funded team. The NW teams cannot afford to spend 480 man hours building a car. I can't remember what Davis Motorsports said it cost to build their COT, but it was an absolutely shocking number (something like $300-$400k?). Most teams can't afford to build ONE at that cost, much less enough to even thinking of competing for a full season (especially if they get into a wreck in any race).

It's just not possible for NASCAR to expect all the independent Nationwide teams that are barely surviving NOW to build a fleet of new cars within the next year, right? (I understand, NASCAR often does the unexpected, but here I would hope that's not the case).
5

James Mogseth said:
Nov 29, 2008 at 10:54 PM
It seems NASCAR has evolved into a monster that can't make up its mind. I'm beginning to think it's more a waste of my time than an enjoyable past time. When will you guys at the top of the pack realize that real fans enjoyed racing when the cars were actually stock cars made to race. When will you realize that is what people want to see now. Let the cars run, let the drivers drive. Get back to the business of promoting your sport and stop meddling with success. Can't you see the direction your fan base is going? Are you blind or just stupid?
6

Werner Boehmert said:
Nov 30, 2008 at 4:23 PM
new car for Nationwide?...maybe they can hire those who are jobless from the Cup Series...
7

Mike Butler said:
Dec 2, 2008 at 4:08 PM
What is being missed is that the chassis for Nationwide are the old chassis for Sprint Cup. Unless they move to the Nationwide COT based on the Sprint COT Chassis, teams are going to have to start manufacturing new Nationwide chassis. It will also give young drivers a better feel for the Cup car when they move up.