Before even moving on to the car themselves, I must take just a moment to say how very pleased I am, and I'm sure most fans will concur, with the changes to the nascar.com website. I find I can actually go there now and not be blinded by the overwhelming amount of Flash and Java that have ruled there over the years. My computer is as fast as the best of them, but I still found it almost impossible to even scroll that site smoothly because of far too much "stuff" trying to control my cursor. The new site is fantastic. Everything is laid out for easy navigation, and it seems to be beautifully configured with the user in mind. Congratulations to Colin Smith, NASCAR Digital Media’s managing director, whom I assume is responsible for overseeing the new website. Excellent job Mr. Smith; we, the fans, thank you.
Now race fans, let's spend a few minutes on explanation of the term "Generation 6" or "Gen-6" as it's already come to be known. Current logic has it that the progression was thus:
Gen-1... The "Strictly Stock cars back in the beginning. Cars of the 1950s, with drivers such as Lee Petty, Herb Thomas, Red Byron and a host of others. Cars included many makes and models no longer available today... Hudson, Mercury, and Oldsmobile. Chrysler was there as well.
Gen-2... Moving to the mid-1960s and into the 1970s, these were the big cars, with the big engines, most notably the Hemis. These are the boats we old-school fans love to remember. This was when the car-makers first began to pay attention to aerodynamics, but had a long way to go. Drivers of this era included Richard Petty, David Pearson and Cale Yarborough, again with many, many more.
Gen-3... These were the smaller wheel-based cars of the 1980s... the ones that in the beginning proved over and over that they could fly. Not a good thing, to be sure. Behind their steering wheels were drivers named Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace and the rest of their competition.
Gen-4... These would be the yet smaller cars of the 1990s, which had by then lost much of their stock appearance and were decidedly race cars, not the cars in our driveways. This was the Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett era, though overlapped by drivers from the earlier decade like Earnhardt and Wallace along with newcomers with names like Kenseth, Johnson and Newman.
Gen-5... This was the age of the COT. This generation brought with it many safety features, both in the car and on the track. But... and it's a big but... the COT, victim of severe scrutiny by NASCAR, produced cars that were identical in every detail that could be controlled. It had a wing instead of a spoiler and it had an ugly front splitter, held on with equally ugly braces. It was fat and squat in appearance. Beautiful... it was not! It lost fan support almost from the day it rolled out for competition in 2007. It lost manufacturer support as well, as no one could tell what car they were seeing... the only difference being the headlight decals.
Between the car itself, the order making Head And Neck restraints mandatory and the installation of SAFER barriers at all NASCAR tracks where Cup cars run, racing was safer than before, but the racing itself was anything but better. The term "Aero push" has come to be dreaded by all race fans, and the drivers are none too fond of it either. It means that even though car 2 in line might be much faster, it is unable to pull out and around car 1 in line without being sucked into the side of said car. In short, it makes passing almost an impossibility. Six years of that was more than enough.
Aided by a struggling economy, the lack of "racing", for want of a better term, has turned many fans away, which accounts for the vast number of empty seats we now see in once sold out grandstands. Mr. France, it is far too late for "I told you so", but so many of us tried. In a recent article, you were quoted as having "learned a lesson." “The testing, the way we're doing it, manufacturer support, I thought it was pretty high. It wasn't high enough; it wasn't even close to high enough.” That was in reference to the COT. You say Sir, that you expect far better acceptance of the Gen-6 cars, and I do hope you are correct.
Gen-6... Finally, we arrive at the new kid on the block, the Gen-6 cars. At this point, I have to say that in my memory, Gen-3, Gen-4 and most certainly Gen-5 cars were not well accepted at the beginning. The first two raced on with some tweaking until it was time for a new generation. Gen-5, the COT, has only been with us for 6 years, but it is well past time for the new Gen-6 cars, which in truth have been on the drawing board for the past two years. No car in the history of the sport was so vehemently disliked as was the COT. The fans would willingly go back to any of the generations rather than continue watching that car fail to race.
The biggest plus that the Gen-6 cars have going for them is their "Brand identity." One can tell at a glance which car they are looking at and who made it. Amazingly, all three seem to come out very similar in wind-tunnel testing, as they really DO look different now, each from the others. In the accompanying rendering, borrowed from the pages of the new nascar.com website, we can see at a glance which car is coming straight at us... frontal view.
[caption id="attachment_3485" align="alignleft" width="235"]
Rendering from nascar.com[/caption]
When I look at the Camry, with the grille area split by the Toyota insignia, the car appears to me to have flared nostrils, much like a horse will demonstrate when snorting. With my half-Arab, that usually indicated that he'd had about enough of whatever I was doing to him... or that a fly had bitten him. In short, the Camry shows attitude!
The Chevy front view is very different. No split grille on this one, and it "almost" appears to be smiling, save for those upturned corners behind the headlights. Those give it a classic "mean" look that the Monte Carlos have passed down to the new SS... closely resembling the upturned corners on the domino mask worn by "Cat Woman." If the Toyota has 'Tude, the Chevy is Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean.
Looking the Ford Fusion straight in the eye, one doesn't get quite the same feeling. The other two look threatening, while the Fusion looks confident. I see in this one that Smiley with the sunglasses that just oozes confidence, giving the impression that he is standing with hands on hips, looking down at you while delivering the message, "Don't mess with me!"
[caption id="attachment_3486" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
#2 Ford Fusion
Photo from Jayski.com[/caption]
Others of you might, and probably will, see them differently, but the important thing is, you can see the difference... something we've been missing for the last six years. Perhaps it's no accident we call this one Gen-6.
I know we haven't seen any of them up close and personal except for the test run at Charlotte before Christmas, but I for one, can't wait to see these new cars in an actual race. I don't believe there has been a year in the past decade that riveted my attention on the upcoming season as much as this one does. Mr. France, Mr. Pemberton, Mr. Helton and anyone else that lent a contributing hand to letting the manufacturers work with their own cars... a hearty "Thank You" and a "Well Done" to all three car companies. They are all beautiful and they all show much promise. In about seven weeks, we'll have the answer to the one big question remaining, "Can they race?"
[caption id="attachment_3487" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
#15 Toyota Camry
Photo from Jayski.com[/caption]
In closing, I only want to say that I'm quite aware there are many changes to the Gen-6 cars that cannot be seen by looking at the pretty pictures... changes in suspension, weight, camber/caster allowances and others. If necessary, we'll cover those another day, but for now, I look forward with great anticipation to the 2013 season and the new Gen-6 cars, and I think most race fans feel the same.
[caption id="attachment_3488" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
#29 Chevy SS
Photo from Jayski.com[/caption]
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