News-Record.com

The car looked different, but it was the same old Bristol: a one-groove track with not a lot of passing except when someone got outside and everyone freight-trained him down low.

A couple of NASCAR noobs, Juan Pablo Montoya and A.J. Allmendinger, kept running into things. Two of the Gibbs cars (Stewart and Hamlin) had fuel pump problems. The only guy to get his firesuit in a knot was Dale Jarrett, who was understandably hacked off at a panicky Matt Kenseth.

But all in all, it was a race. Dustin's story in today's paper focused on the driver reaction, which was generally negative. (I figured that would be the case - everyone hates new stuff. I figured the race winner would love the car. I was wrong there.)

My favorite comment came from Junior:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. credited the car with preserving his seventh-place finish. Earnhardt said that when Denny Hamlin's car slowed in the final laps because of a fuel pump problem, it clumped cars together behind. Earnhardt said he bounced off a few cars.

"It was really funny, I thought if you hit a guy you'd spin him like normal," Earnhardt said. "When you hit them it just propels them forward. It's kind of cool. I would have gotten spun out in the other car."

So what did you think of the COT? Better? Worse? No different? I'm leaning toward "not much different," but I haven't decided if the "not much" part is better or worse than the old cars.