2007 Food City 500 @ Bristol NEXTEL Cup Event Thread *SPOILERS*

rustyfan · 20 Mar 2007, 09:23 (Ref:1872110)

It may not be the prettiest nor the fastest kid on the block, but it sure has a way of stirring up emotion wherever it goes. Yes people, it's finally time to see what the Car of Tomorrow can do as the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series leaves the superfast high banks of Atlanta behind and looks toward the even higher banks of Thunder Valley for 500 laps around the awesome, fender-crunching Bristol Motor Speedway.

Track Specs: 0.533-mile concrete oval, 36 degrees of banking in the turns, 16 degrees of banking on the straightaways. Roughly 160,000 grandstand seats.

NEXTEL Cup Qualifying Record: 128.709 mph (14.908 seconds), by Ryan Newman on March 21st, 2003.

NEXTEL Cup Race Record: 101.074 mph (2 hours, 38 minutes, 12 seconds) set by Charlie Glotzbach on July 11th, 1971.

There are 50 cars going for 43 spots. NASCAR.com has posted the entry list.

Regan Smith replaces Mark Martin in the #01 Army Chevy and will make his first career NEXTEL Cup start. A.J. is still hoping to do the same thing, but will have to qualify on speed to make the race.

Chad Chaffin, Jeremy Mayfield and Kevin Lepage are all looking to try and qualify for their first race of the year.

Car of Tomorrow
Ford and Toyota will stick with their current models, while Chevrolet reintroduces the Impala and Dodge switches to the Avenger.

For more information and images of the CoT I recommend you visit Jayski's site about the CoT.

TV: Pre-race show on FOX starts at 1:30pm ET. Green flag is scheduled for 2:10pm ET.

In Scandinavia the TV broadcast gets underway at 19:30 CET on Viasat Sport 3.

My pick for the win: Denny Hamlin

Hazza · 20 Mar 2007, 10:23 (Ref:1872174)

http://www.jayski.com/stats/testing/...07bristol.htm]

If that's a form guide, I reckon that only Jarrett will be in the race. 'Yotas were well off the pace.

So was Dale...

rustyfan · 20 Mar 2007, 10:42 (Ref:1872198)

I'm going to be slightly more optimistic and believe we'll see a handful of them in the race since there were some noticable differences between the sessions, such as Jeremy Mayfield who was considerably quicker in the first session compared to the final one.

First proper practice should be a better indication. I'm also getting the feeling qualifying could get pretty interesting, with drivers testing the limits of the new and relatively untested setups.

StuiE · 20 Mar 2007, 11:15 (Ref:1872217)

Nice preview

I can't wait, I love the place, and the CoT will be very interesting to watch for the first time. I like the Avenger road car (though it has weak engines and is wrong wheel drive

) the CoT doesn't look too bad, probably the best of the lot, that or the Ford (and I like the Chevys!)

jimmer · 20 Mar 2007, 17:36 (Ref:1872439)

Cot and bristol motor speedway , beating and banging , great

how long will those fenders/spoilers last ????????

**Craig** · 20 Mar 2007, 18:28 (Ref:1872477)

Can't wait!! I'm really looking forward to this one..!

Knowlesy · 20 Mar 2007, 18:32 (Ref:1872482)

Bristol really is the place! Unless you happen to be Kasey Kahne this weekend...

It will be weird seeing that ugly box they'll all be driving though.....but if the racing is great then all is forgiven!

rustyfan · 20 Mar 2007, 20:15 (Ref:1872554)

I'm guessing they'll look quite ok when we get to see the full field, painted up with logos, numbers and all, take the green on Sunday.

That said, I can't wait to see a CoT get some of that good old all-inclusive Bristol treatment

Knowlesy · 20 Mar 2007, 21:09 (Ref:1872586)

Yeah, they should look better all decaled up! But I find some liveries hard to picture with the CoT!

I wonder how many times Tony Stewart will complain about the car this weekend? Quick sweepstakes?

Hazza · 20 Mar 2007, 22:47 (Ref:1872670)

I reckon it'll start during first practice.

Failing that he'll bin it, then ***** about the car or goodyear.

Antrodemus · 21 Mar 2007, 00:20 (Ref:1872713)

Never mind paint, just having a dozen of them in the same shot makes them look better

**chunterer** · 22 Mar 2007, 09:35 (Ref:1873642)

Hmmm, very different looking compared to the older cars aren't they.

Is it me or does the black one at the front look like the front of an old Bimmer 8 series welded together with the rear end of a Bristol Beaufighter (for those who don't know it was a quaint 70's Rolls engined British road car)???

Anyway, wonder if JPM will br able to start using the tyres batter and translating qualy pace into a more consistent pace over a distance?

rustyfan · 22 Mar 2007, 12:03 (Ref:1873716)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

Anyway, wonder if JPM will br able to start using the tyres batter and translating qualy pace into a more consistent pace over a distance?

I reckon he's learning more and more about tire management for each passing race, and once they start hitting tracks for a second time we should see improvement compared to when he first raced there.

Not that tire management - compared to, well, simply surviving - will be his main concern this Sunday though

MikeH · 23 Mar 2007, 13:37 (Ref:1874486)

From the front those COTs resemble the Craftsman Trucks. In the end I suppose what matters is that they are safe and produce good racing, regardless of what they look like. We'll see if that's the case on Sunday!

ss_collins · 23 Mar 2007, 15:25 (Ref:1874551)

is NASN not live?

**Craig** · 23 Mar 2007, 15:38 (Ref:1874560)

It's not shown on NASN but Setanta/NASN2. And it is live on there, starts 7.25 on Sunday night. Really looking forward to it. It's Bristol, which is always gonna be fun, but throw in the debut of the COT and it's gonna bue madness!

I'm watching Nascar Now on NASN right now, first time I've seen this show, and it's really interesting to hear how they're handling the transition to COT.

Neil22 · 23 Mar 2007, 17:18 (Ref:1874621)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmer

Cot and bristol motor speedway , beating and banging , great

how long will those fenders/spoilers last ????????

Yeah, NASCAR won't have to pull any fake yellows with all the plastic that's going to end up on the track.

rustyfan · 23 Mar 2007, 19:22 (Ref:1874691)

First practice speeds at NASCAR.com.

Some notes:

- Denny Hamlin was the fastest

- All four manufacturers were represented in the top 10 (5 x Chevrolet, 3 x Dodge, 1 x Toyota, 1 x Ford)

- Tony Stewart was 8th fastest, which has to be considered pretty good considering how much he's complained about the CoT

- Juan Pablo Montoya (39th fastest) and Regan Smith (15th fastest) ran the most laps in practice.

- Chad Chaffin and the #34 team have withdrawn, which means there will be 49 cars going for 43 spots.

Qualifying will start soon. Jayski will have a 'semi-live' qualifying page running here.

Matt · 23 Mar 2007, 19:39 (Ref:1874702)

The wing endplates are so small, lol.

botsquad · 23 Mar 2007, 20:01 (Ref:1874720)

jpm ran 65 laps in practice.

wish i was there for them.

**FIRE** · 23 Mar 2007, 20:12 (Ref:1874731)

So far Blaney is 3rd. Other Toyota's 12th and 14th.

rustyfan · 23 Mar 2007, 20:17 (Ref:1874735)

Top 5 in qualifying thus far (after 29 cars):

1. Kasey Kahne, Dodge - 125.313 mph
2. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet - 125.117 mph
3. Dave Blaney, Toyota - 124.768 mph
4. Scott Riggs, Dodge - 124.759 mph
5. Jeff Green, Chevrolet - 124.622 mph

EDIT - Juan Pablo Montoya is 21st fastest so far at 122.819 mph.

Matt · 23 Mar 2007, 20:19 (Ref:1874736)

Avenger needs the R/T light clusters instead of the standard ones. Such like this.
http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2007/n...aco-cot-r1.jpg
Yes, that's an Avenger, not Charger.

**FIRE** · 23 Mar 2007, 20:26 (Ref:1874741)

Ford is struggling.

The switch to the CoT helps Toyota.

rustyfan · 23 Mar 2007, 20:50 (Ref:1874756)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

Avenger needs the R/T light clusters instead of the standard ones. Such like this.
http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2007/n...aco-cot-r1.jpg
Yes, that's an Avenger, not Charger.

That one looks pretty cool. Then again, most race cars look cool when they're black

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