Published: June 13, 2009 10:02 pm      

Fans won’t stand for it

NASCAR commonly refers to its fairly new racer as the Car of Tomorrow – COT, for short.

The acronym seemed appropriate after last year’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. The tens of thousands of fans who attended the 2008 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway could’ve used cots.

The “race” was a bore. Eleven caution flags were thrown. NASCAR mandated tire changes every 10 to 13 laps. Drivers said their Goodyear tires were wearing down after as few as five laps. Several teams were retired because of right-rear blowouts.

There was little racing until the final seven laps.

As racers go, the Car of Tomorrow is as aerodynamic as a boxcar. NASCAR and Goodyear should’ve known they’d have a problem around Indy’s minimally banked turns.

This year, however, Goodyear has said testing at Indianapolis’ 100-year-old track has proved successful. Private tests earlier this month with NASCAR drivers Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Patrick Carpentier, Bill Elliott, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, as well as Hoosiers Tony Stewart and David Stremme, produced several runs of more than 30 laps around the 2.5-mile oval.

Cars usually require fuel every 32 laps at Indy.

Last year, we urged NASCAR and Speedway officials to allow for more testing at Indianapolis before the July 26 running of the Allstate 400. They have. Twelve drivers will test tires Monday and Tuesday.

The racing series, the tire maker and the track can’t afford for faulty tires to mar this year’s event.