One of the biggest changes, which has already been made public, is the transition from a rear wing to a spoiler in the Sprint Cup Series.  NASCAR instituted the rear wing as it transitioned to the Car Of Tomorrow back in 2007. It was said to be safer, and I think generally, it has been. But, fan acceptance never grew.
 
A car with a rear wing looks much less like the street version of the car. With carmakers struggling so much – and possibly having to justify their participation in NASCAR – it is no surprise NASCAR is working towards making the cars look more like their street counterparts. Thus, the old saying, “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday,” becomes a little more true.
 
NASCAR evaluated the wing, and put it in for “all the right reasons,” according to NASCAR President Mike Helton. But, support for the wing didn’t increase to the level anybody “thought it should.” So, NASCAR opted to change back to a spoiler. It should add more balance to the car, make it more drivable, and create better racing. Thus far, reviews have been positive.

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France added that they hope to have the spoiler ready for debut at a superspeedway by the Texas race in April. It should be ready for tracks smaller than 1.5-mile tracks earlier than that.

Brian France said there was “nothing to report” on whether or not the front end of the COT will change. Helton added that a factor in not changing the front of this car at this time is that they didn’t want to release too many changes for the owners to deal with at one time. The current car features a splitter on the front.

The yellow line rule at plate tracks, which was expected to go away, will in fact stay, “for now,” according to NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. At this time, NASCAR determined that the rule needed to stay. But, Pemberton said that they will consider changing the rule at a later date. (I’m not sure if it should be changed.)
 
NASCAR also plans to use a larger restrictor plate, the biggest since 1989. The reasoning is that things that were added to the car to improve stability also created drag. So, NASCAR is moving to a larger plate to give power and responsiveness back to the car to offset the increased drag.

The Nationwide Series will introduce its Car Of Tomorrow in 2010. The car is slated to appear in four races, Daytona in July, Michigan, Richmond, and Charlotte. Crews will also be limited in the series in 2010. Crews will now be made up of 15 members, including a driver, a crew chief, a spotter, and seven over-the-wall members. And, N’Wide teams cannot run more than two races without using engines sealed by NASCAR.

In the Camping World Truck Series, double-file, shootout style restarts will debut in 2010. Double-file restarts are already in place in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. In addition, the truck series will move back to conventional style pit stops.

In 2009, rules prevented teams from taking tires and fuel in the same pit stop. This was an effort by NASCAR to save money. Now, teams can take both during the same stop.  Also, truck teams can use a self-venting fuel dump, which will eliminate the need of a catch can.

Update: NASCAR has added a list of banned substances to the 2010 rulebook. The governing body also included its entire drug policy in the 2010 rulebook, for clarity. This comes in response to many complaints that followed the Jeremy Mayfield incident.

Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby wrote in the memo to teams:

To help put some of the rumor mills to rest, I am sending you the following facts as they relate to changes for 2010. We will be transitioning from the usage of the current wing to an aluminum spoiler.

NASCAR plans to test spoilers in the wind tunnel to determine the best size and shape. Once that is done, NASCAR will select a specific manufacturer to make the spoilers. Teams will be required to buy from the manufacturer.
 
Driver/owner Tony Stewart said of the move:

The thing is, NASCAR has been through changes for 60 years, just like the economy, just like technology.  So this will be just another step in that equation. That’s the fun part of our sport, is that it makes everybody have to go work. That’s what makes it gratifying if you figure it out and become successful with it.

The “car of tomorrow,” which features a wing, was introduced in 2007, and was used full-time in 2008. Drivers and fans never fully accepted it. Drivers complained of limited vision because of the wing. And, fans said it made the racing boring. There were also complaints about how it made the cars look significantly different from their street counterparts.

NASCAR plans to announce this change at a press conference later this month. Other changes being considered include allowing bump drafting at restrictor plate tracks, and doing away with the yellow line rule at those tracks.

Wolfe said:

We had been talking with NASCAR for some time about Mustang as part of its vision for a ‘muscle car’ rollout for the Nationwide Series. We both saw it as a way of differentiating the series from Sprint Cup.

Once the Mustang templates are finalized, parts production will begin, allowing teams to build and test the car later this fall.

Dodge is expected to run the Challenger as its Nationwide COT, but Chevy will continue to run its Impala SS. NASCAR officials wanted Chevy to run its Camaro.

Toyota is expected to run its Camry, which is also used in Sprint Cup, but they may use a Solara version of the car.

According to Jayski, the Nationwide COT is expected to rollout at Daytona in July. The plan was originally to have it debut in February, but after meeting with Nationwide Series owners, the plan was delayed. The reason for the delay was mainly the costs to implement the new car.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President, Competition said:

We had a very productive meeting this morning (Tuesday, July 28) with the team owners from the NASCAR Nationwide Series about the rollout schedule for that series’ new race car. In the days ahead, we will digest what was discussed today and make a final decision on the rollout for next season with full anticipation of integrating the new car for the entire 2011 schedule.

The answer? Probably not much would happen.

While NASCAR touted the safety aspects, the savings, and the closer competition as reasons for the new car design, I think that the Car of Tomorrow also freed NASCAR from the mercy of the carmakers.

Sprint Cup cars are made by teams individually. There are no NASCAR factories that crank out COTs like GM or Chrysler plants. These cars are custom built in race shops by Sprint Cup teams. I imagine that other than providing parts, the carmakers have little to do with production or maintenance.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that carmakers provide support for their cars. But, if that support goes away, the make wouldn’t necessarily.

Last year, Dodge announced it would pull its factory support from what is now the Camping world Truck Series. At the time, Mike Delahanty, senior manager of Dodge Motorsports, said:

We’ll have no factory-funded teams. When times are tough, there are certain things that are lower on the priority list than others. There’s a lot of Dodge trucks, engines and parts out there, [teams] may choose to run them. We just won’t be writing the checks to any teams.

I’m sure that any carmaker that left the sport at this point would take the same stance.

Sure, some teams might stop using their cars. But, teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Petty Motorsports would continue building their race cars, and would still compete.

Large sponsorships would, most likely, keep the bigger players in the sport. And the relatively low cost of competing these days, with the testing ban, would keep most of the smaller teams in the sport.

So, even if Dodge and Chevy were to leave, the sport would find a way to survive. After all, this isn’t the first time automaker support was in jeopardy.

Carl Edwards told ESPN:

I hadn’t seen the car all finished and sitting on the ground. It’s good. It drives really well. It feels a lot like the car we’re racing now. Compared to when we first ran the Car of Tomorrow in the [Sprint] Cup series, this is a lot smaller change for us to go to this car. 

According to NASCAR.com, five teams represented the four manufacturers: Roush Fenway Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing, and Richard Childress Racing. Drivers that tested the cars include Bryan Clauson, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Morgan Shepard, David Stremme, and Scott Wimmer.

Wimmer said, in the NASCAR.com article:

I’m excited about the car. [There are] a lot of real positive things right now. We’ve been running through the normal things we do at a test and it’s responding well.

The Nationwide COT will have a 110 inch wheelbase, the same as the Sprint Cup COT. This also will allow current Nationwide Series components to be brought forward in an effort to contain costs. The new car will also use a conventional spring suspension instead of bump stops.

To see images of the N’Wide COT, visit Jayski’s 2008 Richmond COT Testing Page.