"Butt ugly"
Hey, I'm just quoting Lee Spencer, who uses that word to describe NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow:
A better name for NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow would be the Bastardmobile.With its funky splitter on the front end and the carbon fiber wing off the rear, the COT is butt-ugly. NASCAR spent five years developing the car and apparently spent no time on its appearance.
The car is so ugly NASCAR ...
... and it goes on from there. (The full column is after the jump.)
The word I've used before is "sporty," and I still think that fits, mostly because of the rear spoiler and the lack of a front valance. (Go here and look at the second picture.)
But the COT still looks more or less like the stock car we've all come to know and love, and to call it ugly implies that NASCAR rides are good looking. Face facts: The NASCAR stock car has been bumpdrafted down the back stretch of racing by the Uglymobile.
If you want to see pretty race cars, go here. Other pretty cars are here, here and here. these cars here are just plain cool, and not just because they fly through the air.
What ever happened to the good old days when writers kvetched about how cars didn't look like the ones on the showroom floor?
Here's the Spencer column.
Car of Tomorrow is no streaking beauty
By Lee Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(August 31, 2006)
A better name for NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow would be the Bastardmobile.
With its funky splitter on the front end and the carbon fiber wing off the rear, the COT is butt-ugly. NASCAR spent five years developing the car and apparently spent no time on its appearance.
The car is so ugly NASCAR hardly endeared itself to diecast car manufacturers with this model – with the exception of cost. Every car looks identical to the rest, so diecast producers can implement a one-size-fits-all and simply slap on stickers in the appropriate places. Isn’t that what they do for IROC cars?
But the concern for NASCAR isn’t how the car looks or whether Action Performance’s stock will rise from the sale of diecast cars. NASCAR’s focus is on safety, competition and cost.
“I still have my reservations and concerns,” four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon says. “I think the car is not very attractive-looking. You know we had the opportunity to make a sleek-looking, sexy, cool car that took downforce away from the car and was a little bit safer.”
The COT’s safety advances have been well-documented: a larger, well-insulated cocoon for the driver with energy-absorbing materials and double steel roll bars on the driver’s side coupled with a steel floorboard.
The improved performance NASCAR trumpets remains to be seen. The cars were tested recently at Michigan. But varying opinions emerged about the aerodynamic qualities after the cars were running in packs of 10.
Gordon expects the car to draft well, but he’s still concerned about aero push – or the car becoming unstable behind another car. Jeremy Mayfield, who tested the COT at Kentucky Speedway with additional data from Bill Davis Racing teammate Dave Blaney, sounded more satisfied.
“A driver looks for a certain feel in a car, and it’s up to the crew and crew chief to help him find that,” Mayfield says. “The car had a lot of grip, and it was equal in the front and the rear. That gave me a real stable feeling.”
NASCAR claims teams will save money because they won’t have to build specialized cars – being able to adjust the rear wing and front splitter will end the need for different road course, short track, speedway and downforce cars.
But I don’t believe for a second that an organization the size of Hendrick Motorsports or Roush Racing won’t create as many cars as it feels is necessary to get an advantage over the competition.
At the end of the day, the Nextel Cup Series will be a rich man’s IROC with hideous-looking cars. At least the drivers and horsepower will make a difference.
Comments (1)
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To me, it looks like a Days of Thunder-era Lumina from the front, so, yeah, it is a little ugly. From the side view, the cockpit-on-steroids, is out of proportion in the same way a college mascot's giant head looks out-of-whack on the body.
Unlike most, though, I look forward to Toyota's entry into Cup. 'Course I have a 'bitchin' Camry myself.
Also, the one thing I've liked about the racing over the past couple of years is that we've gotten away from the excruciatingly boring debate the used to go on every week about whether the Chevies had an advantage over the Pontiacs, or whether the Ford bodystyle alone caused it to have eight cars in the Top 10. God, that was boring.
Hopefully, the COT will forever put an end to that.
Plus, with that huge driver's side window, Tony Stewart will be able to get in and out even after he gets even fatter.
Posted on August 31, 2006 2:47 PM