Great post -- but the stock part of WRC cars pretty much ends inside once you get past the body.

If I remember correctly, this used to be the case in NASCAR as well. The outside lines of the car had to match that of the street car it represented, but there was a pure-bred racer underneath. In days of old, NASCAR racers were also allowed to run any engine that came stock in the same model they were representing. "Family sedans" often hit the showroom floor back then with 396ci, 426ci, and 440ci motors etc. But to my knowledge, no sedans these days have engines that would be suitable for racing modification. A car had to made available to the public, and at least 200 units had to be sold before that model could be represented in NASCAR.

I don't think anyone wants to see a return to using ACTUAL stock cars in NASCAR, but I would like to see them return to making the cars adhere to the body lines of their street-going counterparts.

Well, they had to get away from that to stop the constant whining and politicking about other manufacturers having an advantage. And I agree with them on that.

I got so sick of hearing Jack Roush and Mark Martin, whose car just won the race, crying and campaigning for 1/8" of spoiler so the Fords could be competitive. I really hate to see a grown man cry.

The only way to shut them (and others) up was to go to the common template "door wedge" we had before (and NNS and ARCA still have). The common template car has been around for years, it's not new with the COT.

The other big change is FWD, which would not work on ovals (right front tires lasting three laps.)

Seems to me, since NASCAR racers are not in any real way based on real cars, whatever they look like is pointless. And if different body styles have different Cd's, different factories will scream "unfair advantage."

Also, for safety purposes and moreso to control competition (read "lessen cheating"), NASCAR wants the chassis to be identical, which means we would be looking at distorted versions of whichever cars, stretched and shrunk to fit the common chassis.

Either NASCAR really revolutionizes and goes to FWD cars or SUVs, or we get wholly manufactured bodies designed to fit the common chassis.

I think a strong reason for NASCAR going to CoTs was to lessen cheating and lessen differences between models. To accommodate a single chassis, the best we could hope for would be four different body styles, none of which looked very much like the stock versions.

^ What part of the old school V8 RWD based car do you guys not understand? Its not like Camaro, Mustang, and Challengers come FWD. Toyota doesn't? TFB. If you feel the need for foreign makes, BMW, Mercedes Benz and now Hyundai all build RWD cars.

Lovey-Dovey - 30 October 2009 10:25 AM

^ What part of the old school V8 RWD based car do you guys not understand? Its not like Camaro, Mustang, and Challengers come FWD. Toyota doesn't? TFB. If you feel the need for foreign makes, BMW, Mercedes Benz and now Hyundai all build RWD cars.

If you choose to count the Lexus IS-F, then Toyota has a RWD car that would give the Camaro, Mustang and Challenger far more than they could handle...

marshall banana - 30 October 2009 12:51 PM

Lovey-Dovey - 30 October 2009 10:25 AM

^ What part of the old school V8 RWD based car do you guys not understand? Its not like Camaro, Mustang, and Challengers come FWD. Toyota doesn't? TFB. If you feel the need for foreign makes, BMW, Mercedes Benz and now Hyundai all build RWD cars.

If you choose to count the Lexus IS-F, then Toyota has a RWD car that would give the Camaro, Mustang and Challenger far more than they could handle...

Forgot Lexus... my bad. Same for Infinity and maybe Acura...I don't know for sure as I never really ever have a reason to think about upscale Honda/Toyota/Nissan products.

Spin - 30 October 2009 08:53 AM

Well, they had to get away from that to stop the constant whining and politicking about other manufacturers having an advantage. And I agree with them on that.

I got so sick of hearing Jack Roush and Mark Martin, whose car just won the race, crying and campaigning for 1/8" of spoiler so the Fords could be competitive. I really hate to see a grown man cry.

The only way to shut them (and others) up was to go to the common template "door wedge" we had before (and NNS and ARCA still have). The common template car has been around for years, it's not new with the COT.

"Whining and politicking" has been going on in NASCAR since the '60s. I believe a little research will prove that it started with the manufactures (Jack was still drag racing, and Mark just starting school), not the owners and drivers. One manufacturer built the answer to Mopar's domination with it's Hemi, but the other two manufacturer's "whining and politicking" saw that it never turned a lap in competition and started the decline and ultimate end to the big-block horsepower wars.
Despite your obvious hatred for Ford, it wasn't Ford who was "whining and politicking".

Yea,I just love all those rear drive Camry's Toyota makes.

I really do miss the teams coming to the race track with surprise cars though.

The sameness of the cars is really turning NASCAR into a one car racing event.

And that's not good.

Everyone is complaining about how close the cars are.

Heck,when you are all driving the same car it's not hard to see why.

"Whining and politicking" has been going on in NASCAR since the '60s. I believe a little research will prove that it started with the manufactures (Jack was still drag racing, and Mark just starting school), not the owners and drivers. One manufacturer built the answer to Mopar's domination with it's Hemi, but the other two manufacturer's "whining and politicking" saw that it never turned a lap in competition and started the decline and ultimate end to the big-block horsepower wars.
Despite your obvious hatred for Ford, it wasn't Ford who was "whining and politicking". wink

I RACED a Ford. A 1972 Torino with a 351 Windsor. Unbreakable. Heavy, but unbreakable. It's not about Furds.

NASCAR did not come out with the common template car because of the Hemi. Just a LITTLE common sense once in awhile?

No Roush didn't invent politicking. He just perfected it. And Jack's an Ohioan too, it's hard to dislike the guy. It really is.

Spin - 31 October 2009 10:48 AM

"Whining and politicking" has been going on in NASCAR since the '60s. I believe a little research will prove that it started with the manufactures (Jack was still drag racing, and Mark just starting school), not the owners and drivers. One manufacturer built the answer to Mopar's domination with it's Hemi, but the other two manufacturer's "whining and politicking" saw that it never turned a lap in competition and started the decline and ultimate end to the big-block horsepower wars.
Despite your obvious hatred for Ford, it wasn't Ford who was "whining and politicking". wink

I RACED a Ford. A 1972 Torino with a 351 Windsor. Unbreakable. Heavy, but unbreakable. It's not about Furds.

NASCAR did not come out with the common template car because of the Hemi. Just a LITTLE common sense once in awhile?

No Roush didn't invent politicking. He just perfected it. And Jack's an Ohioan too, it's hard to dislike the guy. It really is.

Nowhere in my response did I remotely suggest that the Hemi had anything to do with the common template car. I was just pointing out the fact that wining and politicking have been going on long before Jack Roush entered NASCAR. As far as perfecting it, I think Jack has had some help along the way with that as well, and doesn't deserve full credit.