BROOKLYN, Mich. --- Nearly three months after NASCAR held a closed-door meeting with drivers, crew chiefs and car owners, most have given up on the changes that were supposed to make racing more exciting.
Although the Michigan Inter-national Speedway, which hosts today's Carfax 400, is regarded as one of the most competitive tracks in the sport, the new Car of Tomorrow is more likely to produce a lot of follow-the-leader racing.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted a lack of competitive racing is one reason why attendance and television ratings have dropped this year.
"I think NASCAR could probably be a little more urgent in improving our product," he said. "I feel like especially right now, we need to really, really try to turn over every stone."
The biggest problem for the new car is its size and shape. It's wider and taller than the traditional stock car, and that makes it seem top-heavy in traffic. A higher center of gravity takes traction away from the left-side tires in the corners.
Greg Biffle suggested NASCAR look at shifting weight inside the car. Cars must weigh at least 3,450 pounds, but crew chiefs are only allowed to put 1,794 pounds on the left-side of the car. Several teams said they'd like to see the ratio go from 52 percent on the left to 55 percent.
When the race starts today, Brian Vickers and Mark Martin will drag race to the first turn to see who can become the first leader. Vickers won the pole with a fast lap of 187.242 mph. Martin was second-fastest at 187.013.
Juan Pablo Montoya will start third.
Kurt Busch, who will start sixth, was at the town hall meeting and said changes should be considered, especially since rules are so strict teams don't have a lot of room to make improvements.
"It's an ongoing battle," Busch said. "We all said this car is going to be a fight. NASCAR is very stubborn sometimes."
Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com.
HELTON RESPONDS
BROOKLYN, Mich. --- NASCAR president Mike Helton agrees with Dale Earnhardt Jr. that the sport should always be looking for ways to improve. Where he differs is over Earnhardt's suggestion that NASCAR's redesigned race car needs wholesale changes.
Helton said officials are looking at potential improvements to the new car, which was referred to as the Car of Tomorrow, in the run-up to its 2007 introduction.
But Helton says officials aren't considering major or hasty changes -- something Earnhardt deemed necessary.
"Urgency could create more havoc or more expense that we don't need," Helton said.
-- Associated Press
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