The Shortest and Most Hated Era in NASCAR That Was Defined by the Weirdest Generation of Cars

The cars that we see on NASCAR tracks racing through at burning speed today are a reflection of the distance that the sport has come. The seventh iteration of the promotion’s evolutionary efforts, the Next Gen car, is the epitome of safety that we have seen so far. Ryan Preece‘s injury-less escape after a severe crash in the final race of the 2023 regular season will stand testament to that. But not always has NASCAR been this successful in reaching its goals.

In 2007, the promotion rolled out its 5th generation of cars, dubbed the “Car of Tomorrow.” The variant came out amidst much hype owing to its proposed safety features. Unfortunately, it did not strike the right chord in all areas.

The reason behind the high expectations for the “Car of Tomorrow”

The Car of Tomorrow (CoT) was the result of the several heartbreaking accidents that NASCAR endured in the Generation 4 car from 1992 to 2007. The same year that the icon Dale Earnhardt died in a car crash, so did Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin Jr, and Tony Roper. When the 5th generation car debuted, years of speculation and demands for enhanced safety features were met.

But what it made up for in safety, the car lost in handling and looks. The car had wings at the back and front splitters on the front end. Despite all the hype that surrounded it prior to launch, it all quickly deflated when Kyle Busch got out of the car after his first race at the Bristol Motor Speedway, complaining of the car’s terrible handling. Though he won the race, he mentioned in the post-race interview that he hated the CoT and added, “They s*ck.”

Kyle Busch’s two-word verdict sounded the beginning of the era of NASCAR’s oddest cars. For many on the grid, the sound echoed till 2012.

The biggest problems with the much-maligned Car of Tomorrow

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CoT was by no means a complete miss by NASCAR. Throughout its run of 6 years, there were barely any grievous injuries for drivers. Its safety features had worked. But it came at the cost of a bad racing experience. Every weekend, there were complaints raising the roof about drivers being hit by an invisible wall of dirty air whenever they attempted to pass another car. The term “clean air” became one of the most used terms in those initial years when the car was introduced.