Published: April 29, 2008 04:16 pm            

NEW COT FOR NATIONWIDE SERIES

Monticello — Even though there are still kinks to be worked out on the Car of

Tomorrow that is being used in the Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR officials have

begun readying a new car for the Nationwide Series. It is scheduled to be

introduced sometime in 2009.

³It will probably be in the middle of next year,² said NASCAR V-P of

Competition Robin Pemberton. ³We will try to do something that is more

user-friendly than the schedule they had in the Cup Series.²

Teams will need all the help they can get, because Nationwide teams do

not have the size of budgets that the larger Cup teams do. Some team owners

are worried about costs, and some say they will need an entire year¹s notice

in phasing out the inventory of current cars while building new ones.

Cup teams are still trying to figure out the new car. Some of the best

Cup teams have not been consistent, and given their smaller budgets, this

has some Nationwide teams worried.

³I think the teams that run only Nationwide races are going to struggle

the most,² said Kertus Davis, driver of the No. 01 Davis Motorsports

Chevrolet. ³Small teams don¹t have engineering and technical facilities to

deal with new setups and handling characteristics.



Weekend Racing: The Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams have night races at

the 0.75-mile Richmond Raceway. The Craftsman Trucks don¹t see action again

until May 16.

Fri., May 2, Nationwide Series Lipton 250; Starting time: 7 p.m. (EST);

TV: ESPN2.

Sat., May 3, Sprint Cup Crown Royal 400; Starting time: 7 p.m. (EST);

TV: Fox; Defending champion: Jimmie Johnson.

Racing Trivia Question: Jeremy Mayfield is out as the driver of the No.

70 Cup car. Who replaced him?

Last Week¹s Question: What was Harry Gant¹s nickname? Answer: Gant was

often referred to as the ³Skoal Bandit.²

You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.

        

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