NASCAR unveiled it Generation 6 car for the 2013 season last week at Daytona and it has many things that impress not only myself but NASCAR Nation. Let's take a look at what I liked and didn't like about the new cars.
Appearance: The cars look fantastic. With the addition of body lines that distinguish a Chevy from a Ford from a Toyota, it helps to put the stock back into Stock Car. The biggest difference I noticed was that the front nose of each car has a distinct difference, which makes it easier to tell which car brand is going around the track. It was very hard with the previous car because you were relying on stickers to do that job for you.
Race-ability: These cars were a little more squirmy than the last car but that was in part due to a loss of 450 pounds of weight and the rear spoiler and splitter being removed, eliminating down force from those portions of the car. All in all it seemed that these cars didn't have major issues last week.
Driver Recognition: One thing that makes NASCAR different from other sports is that the fans connect deeply with one person, rather than a team. The driver are a really important part of the sport because everybody has one driver they love and that driver that they just can't stand. Heroes and villains are a main reason why the sport is so popular. Now NASCAR is putting the name on the windshield of the car and it helps fans to connect with who drives each individual car.
Now to the parts that I don't like.
Passing and Drafting: This is more of a complaint that I have about Daytona than anything else. The race was boring. Hardly any lead changes and once you got up front that is where they stayed. The freight train style racing is boring, I loved the two car tandems of a few years ago because it eliminates the advantage that the big teams like Hendrick, Gibbs and Rousch have over the competition. It allows drivers like Trevor Bayne and others to lead the race and it also make for more action which is good when you need it from Lap 25 to 175. One other thing, these cars couldn't pass anything. NASCAR needs to fix it. The low line needs to be able to overtake the outside line every once in a while. It will just be better from the sport.
Jimmie Johnson: Johnson winning 5 championships was terrible for the sport. If you say no, it historic, well let's look at the ratings of the sport the last few years. They have been down when he was winning and now they are coming back up because we have had two different winners the last two years. The rating were also up because Danica was in the race, too. I like Jimmie and think he a great guy, but for him to be so dominate he needs to be a villain One that everyone turns in to root against him. He needs to be the Kyle "Buschwacker" of a few years ago. You remember everyone hated Kyle, because he was a hot head and let his emotions ride too much on his collar. If Jimmie was this hated, the sport would grow because everyone was rooting against him. Much like Dale Sr. was hated by the non-Dale Sr. camp. (If you don't remember he was one of the most hated drivers of his time)
Well to wrap up, the car was move in the right direction, but I still say that Toyota and Ford should have to run V-6's because that is the stock motor that they use in their cars. Ford needs to use the interceptor and Toyota needs a V-8 car to make it stock but that is a small issue and not really that big a deal. Well let's hope this NASCAR season goes better for Carl Edwards, the Columbia, MO native.
