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Your Thoughts On The COT

Sifty

By Sifty
in NASCAR & Motor Sports

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Sifty Grand Master

Sifty

Posted
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I was just thinking how my intrest in NASCAR has been down a little this year.

One thing is I have had a very busy year with little to no time to watch a whole race.

From what I have seen I'm not the least bit inpressed with the COT. I think it has really made racing pretty dull this year.

I've been trying to come up with a great race this year and am having a hard time doing it.

What are your thoughts on this year and the COT.

Sifty

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LMITOUT Grand Master

LMITOUT

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I don't know if it's been horrible, but there are some tracks where they haven't performed like they should. I think this is mostly due to the fact that it's the first time they've had this car at those tracks and they are still figuring it out.

The one thing that is reduced with these cars is the dreaded aero-push. The boxy cars don't seem to experience the push anymore which really killed the racing on the 1.5 mi tracks, IMO. On those tracks if you had the clean air you were gone, but now it's a little more racy.

I had concerns or questions about the front splitter and how tough it'd be, but except for a few incidents throughout the year it has held up pretty good.

The Talladega race was one of the best races all season. I'm not sure if it was a product of the car, but they weren't satisfied to run around the track in single file for very long and kept mixing it up for most of the race.

After they run through these tracks for the first and second times this year I'm expecting the racing to get better as they learn the nuances and quirks of the COT....plus they'll move further into the "gray area" as time goes on too. wink

For me this is the dog days of their schedule, as I really don't care for the past two months of tracks they've been at. Pocono, Michigan, Infineon, Chicago, Indy, Pocono again, Watkins Glen, and then Michigan again.

That is one bad stretch of tracks.

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Sifty Grand Master

Sifty

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Well said Dan it really seems like the teams need to figure out the COT a little better but with Nascar coming down so hard on teams "playing" with the cars I think no one is willing to push the limits.

Sifty

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candiru Mentor

candiru

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I thought that this car was supposed to level the playing field somewhat. Instead it has had the opposite effect. There are only 3 (maybe 4) teams that can be counted on to run out front or win on a consistant basis. Some teams that used to run well are barely even on the radar screen any more.

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HOF#13 Experienced

HOF#13

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Handling with these things have been a huge issue. NASCAR would do well to make room for a little more adjustability with the teams though. I'd also like to see them get rid of the wing, and go back to the old fashioned spoiler. The added downforce would help a lot I think.

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JollyT Community Regular

JollyT

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I think the declining interest has more to do with other factors like repeated name changes on the series and the continuous silly season the last few years with wholesale driver and team swaps. The teams all have the big business feel about them which turns some fans off.

The COT actually is a better car for close racing. Not faster, but better. Some drivers have seemed to adapt better than others also.

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jwhjr Grand Master

jwhjr

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I think the declining interest has more to do with other factors like repeated name changes on the series and the continuous silly season the last few years with wholesale driver and team swaps. The teams all have the big business feel about them which turns some fans off.

A couple of friends of mine who got me into racing haven't watched it much if any the last few years for these very reasons.

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pisces Collaborator

pisces

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Yeah, and if you dont have cable TV, like me, then you miss the middle of the season. Actually, that not so bad as this is midsummer when there is just more to do than time to do it in. I'm looking forward to Sept when it come back to ABC for the Chase.

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eyepatrol Grand Master

eyepatrol

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I think JollyT makes a good point here. In the past, drivers and teams stuck together for the most part. They stuck with the same sponsors and they stuck with the same manufacturer. There was a level of loyalty in that. Fans could be loyal to their drivers because they liked their sponsor and/or the make of vehicle they were driving as well as the driver. And driving used to be about winning. Now driving is about the money. Not just the money that is made from wins, but money made by team contracts and team sponsors. Drivers are more apt now days to take the bigger contract than they are to reject it and stay with their current team. In those respects and in my opinion, the sport has lost some of it's luster.

I also think it has something to do with the jockeying of how the chase is set up. I'm not a big fan of the chase to begin with as I much preferred the old way of scoring. Even if back then a guy had a huge lead that was unsurmountable, at least everyone knew he and his team had EARNED it. With today's setup, you can have a driver who has earned a huge lead on the field only to have it completely erased, even fall behind, in the chase just because someone else has more wins. NASCAR used to be about rewarding consistency. Now they seem to reward inconsistency by allowing nearly 1/3 of the field to be a part of the chase.

I too have hardly watched any races this year. Obviously I haven't participated in this forum much either. For me, it's a culmination of a number of things mentioned in my post. It also has to do with one other factor. And I'll probably get ripped for it, but it's the Toyota factor. Many, many fans of the sport are die-hard Americans (i.e. - the south). I think the last thing they wanted was to see some foreign named manufacturer enter the NASCAR ranks. I myself feel that way at least. And yeah, sure, we can argue until we're blue in the face about where vehicles are made/assembled, etc. The point is not that.....the point is the manufacturer's NAME. Toyota is a foreign country brand name and NASCAR has always been a home-bred good 'ol boys American sport. Gears & greese. Horsepower and torque. A blue-collar sport that has turned white-collared.

The COT also has something to do with it too I think. Now everyone is given a matchbox car and are told they can't hardly do anything to it. The old way of cars was innovation, enginuity, creative thinking and yes, pushing the rules envelope. Those days are essentially now gone. It's like saying.....here's a one-on-one basketball game where it is Michael Jordan against Michael Jordan. Well woopty-do!

And then throw in the factor that you have a talented driver with a mouth the size of Alaska and the brain the size of Rhode Island winning the races by being wreckless and causing wrecks and nobody can do a retaliatory thing about it. Zombies.....robots......both have no emotion. Another factor that plays into the decline of interest in NASCAR. Guys aren't allowed to show or express their emotion out on the track or after the race. They can, if they dare. But NASCAR will punish them for it! And with the so-called Chase setup, you can't afford to lose 25 or 100 points and lose all those "cherished" sponsor dollars. Sure would be nice to see the days of Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison or Earnhardt Sr. & DW again. Those "boys" had passion, emotion and always let it all hang out. I didn't watch NASCAR back in those days, but it sure is fun watching old classics of those races.

So there, I've said enough. These are all just my opinions and I've always admitted that I'm not extremely knowlegable about NASCAR like others who have been fans and watching much longer than me. But it's how I see things.

I haven't participated much in this forum this year, but I think I just made up for it a "little bit". HA! grin

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PikeBayCommanche Experienced

PikeBayCommanche

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Quote:
And I'll probably get ripped for it, but it's the Toyota factor. Many, many fans of the sport are die-hard Americans (i.e. - the south). I think the last thing they wanted was to see some foreign named manufacturer enter the NASCAR ranks. I myself feel that way at least. And yeah, sure, we can argue until we're blue in the face about where vehicles are made/assembled, etc. The point is not that.....the point is the manufacturer's NAME. Toyota is a foreign country brand name and NASCAR has always been a home-bred good 'ol boys American sport. Gears & greese. Horsepower and torque. A blue-collar sport that has turned white-collared.

The fact that concerns me most about the GM/Ford American manufacturer is the point of, Why can't they make a better product that is as good as the Toyota.

I would by all American if they would just step up and produce higher quality autos.

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