Car of Tomorrow
Car of Tomorrow Should Be Parked
It’s time to stop calling a NASCAR Race Car the Car of Tomorrow.
This new car has been raced for a full season in the 2008 Sprint Cup Series – on top of a partial run in 2007.
Still, there are still plenty of people – including drivers, crew chiefs and members of the media – and even a few race fans — who still insist on calling the race car the Car of Tomorrow.
Well, I’ve got news for them. Tomorrow has come and gone. It’s time to drop all that and simply call it what it is. According to John Darby – NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Director of Competition “the sticker we put on the car says NASCAR Race Car.” Why can’t we simply call it a race car?
But it’s NASCAR’s own fault that the name has stuck. Â When Gary Nelson, then the head of NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, NC first announced plans for the new car it was referred to as “The Car of the Future.” As the time for the debut of the new car approached the name changed to “Car of Tomorrow.”
In fact, the Car of Tomorrow name was out there for a couple of years before the new car was introduced – allowing the name to be branded into people’s minds. Now it’s hard to get it out.
At this rate by the time we stop calling it the Car of Tomorrow there will be a new Car of Tomorrow coming out.
Photo Courtesy Hendrick Motorsports
