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Associated Press 18y

NASCAR pleased with COT test

CONCORD, N.C. - NASCAR officials are closer to a final design on their "Car of Tomorrow" after a successful test session Tuesday at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Eight drivers spent the morning conducting single-lap runs, then grouped together for two 20-lap segments of side-by-side racing. The cars were able to pass one another and ran well in traffic, which didn't happen during an earlier test at Atlanta.

"I think there's definitely something to work with here," Ryan Newman said. "It's aesthetically not pleasing to me, but that's not the point. It's all about the racing."

The Car of Tomorrow is a bigger, boxier vehicle with a front-end splitter that NASCAR has designed to eventually replace the slick aerodynamic models that manufacturers spent the past 10 years developing. The COT is schedule to run in 15 races next season in a phase-in process that will be complete by 2009.

The model tested Tuesday debuted a new rear wing that looks similar to what can be found on street cars, not stock cars. But Jeff Burton doesn't think the car's appearance should matter.

"It's my take that people come to races to watch races ... not to see a car ride around a race track," Burton said. "They want to see good competitive races. Nobody didn't come to Talladega when we had wickers on the roof and Gurney lips on the spoilers. They came to see a race, and I think they'll do the same thing with this car with the wing on it."

NASCAR competition director Robin Pemberton said this latest COT model is very close to what will be introduced next season at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"It's pretty much it," he said. "There might be some (changed) details, but if all the manufacturers work through and get their noses submitted, then we'll be close. It's ongoing, but we got some good feedback today from the teams."

The COT worked under extreme conditions on Tuesday, using the hard tire Goodyear provided for Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 that drivers complained took away their grip and made the freshly paved track surface very slick.

But the test session went off without a single spin or crash, which wasn't the case on Sunday. And, the car handled well at the hottest part of the day.

"It's a good car," Casey Mears said. "I don't feel like it's much off of what we ran this weekend. The rear of the car feels a good bit more stable than what I had this weekend."

There were four Dodges and four Chevrolets at the test. Ford teams didn't participate because they are waiting for NASCAR to give them a final car design before they begin building another model.

Toyota, which will enter the sport next season, also didn't have a car at the test because officials said they are behind in their plans to build one.

The next test is Aug. 21 at Michigan International Speedway.

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