Stewart says COT could play championship role

Stop me if you've heard, or this case read, this before: The Car of Tomorrow is making its official debut this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In the months leading up to this momentous occasion, several drivers finally have come around to the idea. Tony Stewart is not one of those drivers.

"I've raced for 27 years and I've won championships in cars I didn't like, so I'm not too worried about having to try to trick myself into embracing something that I'm not very fond of so far," Stewart said. "If we hit the combination, we can go out there a win a championship with it."

Stewart thinks the COT will be a factor in this year's championship. The car is on tap for 16 races this season, including five in the Chase.

"I think whoever can stumble on the combination and figure out the Car of Tomorrow first is probably the team that's the leading candidate to win the championship this year," Stewart said. "If we hit the combination right, we could win 16 races with a new car like that."

Stewart has been against the timing of the debut all along.

"It's hard enough just to run one type of car, and it's going to be extremely hard to have to shift your focus between two different brands of cars this year just trying to figure out the new car. It's not like we have the whole year just to dedicate to that car," Stewart said. "This is an engineer's dream and a crew chief and driver's nightmare. It'll be interesting to see what happens."

Crew chief Greg Zipadelli is just as concerned.

"It's just so different. The aero packages, the suspensions, the wheel travels are so much different, so much less than what we've had in the past. It's definitely a learning curve," Zipadelli said. "It's definitely going back to things that were years ago as far as wheel travels and things. I'm still trying to figure it out. It's hard to explain. It's a different thought process than what we've been doing."

Stewart said his versatile background will not help ease in the COT.

"In this day and age, the technology is so much more important. It's getting like IndyCar and Formula 1 racing. The technology and the engineers in the sport make it harder for the drivers to be the deciding factor," Stewart said. "In this day and age, it's a 3,400-pound car and it's either right or it's wrong. If it's not right, it's hard to carry a 3,400-pound racecar and make it do what it doesn't want to do.

"In Sprint cars and Midgets, because they're lighter, it's easier to throw them around and you can kind of make them do what you want. But in this day and age with NASCAR being as technical as it is and as advanced as it is technology-wise, it's going to be hard for the drivers to make the difference."

That could put added pressure on the pit crew.

"There are a lot of things that we're unsure about," Zipadelli said. "Pit stops are different. Getting in and out of the pit box is different. The back of the car is longer. It's harder for the tire changers to get around, and we have to worry about the [air] hose getting caught under the splitter. There are just so many things.

"There are so many details that until you just go through some of them and have some problems, they're almost impossible to see or fix."

Stewart will not allow the COT to play mind games, however.

"I don't think it's anything that's psychological. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's going to be all about," Stewart said. "I think when we go to Bristol that it'll be interesting to see where everybody stacks up and see who's really done their homework so far this year.

"It's just a huge feeling when you can accomplish a win there, let alone with the challenges we have with the Car of Tomorrow."