The Car of Tomorrow has a special status as the most hated piece of machinery ever brought to a race track. Its first race was the 2007 Food City 500, and drivers loathed it right from the get-go. Interestingly, Kyle Busch ended up as the race’s winner and still wasn’t fond of the car. His words in the post-race interview are pure gold.
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Driving for Hendrick Motorsports at the time, he started the race in 20th place and led 29 laps before reaching Victory Lane. It was his first win of the season and the fourth of his career. He said, “I am still not a very big fan of these things. I can’t stand to drive them. They suck.” The review stirred up quite the hornet’s nest.
He added, “I told Alan Gustafson that I couldn’t stand driving this thing. For me, it’s not a fun car. It’s a hard car to race around the other competitors since you don’t have much maneuverability.” Many drivers, apart from Busch, believed that the car was too stiff to drive and that it made passing an impossibility.
The race ran under caution 15 times over 90 laps, and only 15 drivers finished on the lead lap. The bad drivability, paired with the hideous looks, made sure that neither fans nor drivers could get used to it. From Jeff Gordon to Tony Stewart, many echoed Busch’s sentiments and criticized the Car of Tomorrow heavily.
‘@KyleBusch won the first NASCAR race in the “Car of Tomorrow” era at Bristol, but was not too happy after he got out of the car.@KylePetty appreciates Kyle Busch for always speaking his mind. pic.twitter.com/QHNfmOejtc
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) April 16, 2022
What other drivers said about the Car of Tomorrow after its debut race
NASCAR began planning the Car of Tomorrow after the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. The terrible accident in Daytona had served as a wake-up call for the promotion to make safety a bigger priority and develop a car that would keep the drivers protected. However, the development process of the COT was extremely slow.
When it did finally come out on track, it created only half the downforce of the earlier car. This was a big disappointment for drivers. Kevin Harvick said, “These cars don’t drive well, but they are what they are. You’ve got to work harder to make them handle well.” Gordon followed on a similar line but expressed regret at how teams can’t make many changes to the car.
The verdict of Tony Stewart was up there, right along with Busch’s. He declared, “I wish we could crash all of them so we don’t have to drive them.” The Car of Tomorrow continued to be in use and was discontinued in 2012.
