Car of Tomorrow

The Car of Tomorrow was designed with one thing in mind: safety. In this case safety means bigger and bulkier. The COT is one and a half inches wider and two and a half inches taller, which has added two inches of head room. The increase in dimensions doesn't seem drastic but drivers have said it feels more like driving an SUV.

The aerodynamics of the car have also changed. Gone is the rear spoiler that is replaced by a rear wing to increase traction through down force. The front of the car is no longer smooth, it has a horizontal splitter made of bullet proof material. The splitter, like its name implies, splits the air to create more down force.

NASCAR has limited the areas of the car that can be worked on by the race teams. At restrictor plate speedways like Daytona and Talladega, NASCAR mandates the specifications of the rear wing. At the rest of the tracks teams are free to adjust the angle of the wing, using flat or rounded wing side plates and whether or not to use a Gurney lip. NASCAR also lets teams adjust the front end geometry of the car by using different shocks and springs.

The car is sluggish, boxy and difficult to drive. It has a higher center of gravity and is much heavier. These characteristics along with the added down force will cause the tires to wear differently and Goodyear and the race teams will have to adapt because the 'Car of Tomorrow' is now the 'Car of Today'.

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