It’s probably coincidence, but the first two races in The Chase for the Nextel Cup are annually held in New Hampshire and Delaware, two small states where politics ranks with college football and stock-car racing as the most popular spectator sport.
While the Granite State may be more famous in campaign lore due to its season-opening presidential primary, I can assure you, having lived there for more than a decade, that Delawareans share a love and appreciation for good political theater.
That’s what they got when the microphones were hot and the topic turned to NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow following Sunday’s Dodge Dealers 400. It was a bit like an open forum on raising taxes or polluting the bay. No one gave a ringing endorsement; they just made their critique from different angles.
The free-standing rear wing provoked the most pungent comment when the CoT was introduced in final form a year ago. They would get knocked off in the heat of battle, especially in the car’s debut race at Bristol, and they just didn’t look like a proper appendage for a stock car said the critics. (It would be interesting to know how many of those voicing aesthetic objections to the wing had a framed photo of Bobby Isaac’s Dodge Daytona or Richard Petty’s Plymouth Superbird circa 1970 on the wall in their den; but like a politician, I digress.)
The wings have remained firmly attached to the trunk lids and now the point of debate has turned to the front, specifically to the splitter, the adjustable shelf under the CoT’s blunt nose. The whole package was designed to get rid of the dreaded “aero push,” the bloggers’ whipping boy for everything from processional racing to falling real estate values.
“Late in the race, I was just way too tight to make a move on those guys,” said third-place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. “We need a better front end. We don’t have enough downforce in the front. It won’t stay consistent. It’s either hitting the ground or it’s too high.”
“I was tight in the center like everyone else was,” added runner-up Greg Biffle. “I had a great opportunity at the end. If I’d been in front of Mark (Martin) when the last caution came out I might have had a shot at Carl (Edwards), but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Edwards, the race winner, was diplomatic. “I was in denial at the start of the season. I didn’t think we were going to race these cars as much as we have. We didn’t spend the time and resources on testing. I remember (Joe Gibbs Racing driver) Denny Hamlin going by me at Richmond like I was standing still.”              
The last word belonged to car owner Jack Roush, who won his 100th Nextel Cup race with a one-two finish and saw his CoT warriors lead 313 of the 400 laps.
“The idea is that we are able to have cars with very little variance in the shape and aero signature,” he began. “If we can figure out what the car needs, we have no problem replicating it. That’s not the case with the car of today.” Warming up to the subject, Roush declared, “We started with the CoT being a weakness. Now I’m concerned the car of today is going to let us down in The Chase.” He added the caveat, “I’m not looking forward to Talladega.”
That will be the final debate of the campaign, if you will. If the blunt-nosed CoT can make passing on the Alabama superspeedway possible without a drafting convoy, the ugly duckling will become a swan in the eyes of officials and fans alike. If a certain red car wins in the Talladega curtain call of that sponsor and number, the Earnhardt Nation will instantly raise the CoT to iconic status.
What’s Jack Roush’s take 10 days before the polls open in Talladega, so to speak? “Whether the racing will keep them glued to their TV or on the edge of their grandstand seat, I’m not going to editorialize,” he said with a trace of his famous sly grin.
Let the sovereign people cast their ballots.