COT planned for 2009 Nationwide Series debut

HAMPTON, Ga. -- NASCAR officials confirmed Sunday plans to have a Car of Tomorrow chassis tentatively in place for the 2009 Nationwide Series season.

During Saturday's Busch Series broadcast from Memphis, Rusty Wallace mentioned a Nationwide Series COT chassis that is on display at NASCAR's research and development center in Concord, N.C. NASCAR's director of cost and research, Brett Bodine, confirmed that a prototype has been built and is undergoing tests.

"We're working on an '09 [Nationwide] car," Bodine said. "[Having it ready for] '09 is tentative. It's not set in stone but we're working on it. We've informed some of the Busch owners and we've got a prototype at the R&D center."

At 110 inches, the wheelbase would match the current Nextel Cup chassis and includes all of the safety initiatives added in the COT design. However, Bodine said there will be significant differences between the two series, although the specifics have yet to be worked out.

"There will be a different body style and different aerodynamic package," Bodine said. "We're working on all that stuff. We're just not there yet, still working through all that process.

"Aerodynamically, we're not there yet. We don't know what package we're going to settle on. But it's the NASCAR chassis. It incorporates all the safety features. That's the key thing. We want to get those safety features in the Nationwide Series."

Wallace said as a team owner, he has mixed feelings about the decision to switch chassis.

"It's a big change," Wallace said Sunday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "It's good for the sport in the long run but it's hard for the owners right now because we're going to have to scrap all of our cars."

Wallace said he expects the new chassis to incorporate a spoiler design rather than a rear wing and a front nose more like the conventional car. However, Bodine said no decisions have been made on the final design of the car.