Rear wing on COT creating vision issues for drivers

As if racing inches apart from some of the fiercest competitors in motorsports at about 190 mph wasn't enough of a challenge, drivers in this weekend's UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway can expect a lot of uncertainty about the Car of Tomorrow configuration they'll race for the first time at the 2.66-mile speedway.

The car's performance, primarily in and around the draft, is one of the great unknowns facing the 51 entered drivers who hope to be in the 43-car field on Sunday afternoon. But a greater concern to a lot of them is how well they'll be able to see, not only looking behind them, but also ahead.

Bracing for unknown

As the COT debuts at Talladega, the Chase drivers are trying to win a championship while figuring out how the car will react on the superspeedway.

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The COT has an expanded, bulbous "greenhouse" or driver's canopy; and on the back of the rear deck, a sizeable wing with a wicker bill atop it, to aid in providing downforce.

While the height of that lip, along with the size of the holes in the carburetor restrictor plate that sits between the carburetor and the intake manifold atop each car's engine may not be determined until some practice runs are made, many drivers are sure of their concerns about visibility.

Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards, who won the second Chase for the Nextel Cup event, at Dover, said no one will be exempt.

"You can't see very well, so that's going to be a big deal," Edwards said. "That's going to make a difference because it's just going to make it harder to see if something's happening in front of the guys that you're right on [in the draft].

"If you're bump-drafting with somebody and you can't see what's in front of them. That could cause a big problem for the guy in the middle."

Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge pilot Kasey Kahne said he had found a potential solution to some of his vision problems coming into the weekend, but as he began practicing Friday he found he could see further behind his car, but not right behind it -- and on account, his team was forced to experiment with different mirrors Friday.

"It's tough to see out of -- especially over that rear wing," Kahne said. "You just have to try to get your mirrors to where you can see -- but it's definitely tougher than with the spoiler, though. It's hard to see out of that car.

"We did some work with our mirrors and I think I've found a better one that some of the other guys are using -- it's inside the car and it's a different shape, so I can see over the top of the wing, where with my other mirror I had to look under it, so I could only see about an inch.

"That should help us, but you definitely have to mess with it, or you can't see."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., have had a lot of success at restrictor-plate races, winning seven times between Daytona and Talladega.

But the chief mechanic, who's in his last race with Earnhardt Jr. before going to Hendrick Motorsports, said vision would be a challenge, and he's not sure a different mirror position is the answer.

"You can try to mount the mirror up as high as you can toward the roof of the car, and that makes it better, because the way the wing is, it's right in the middle of the [rear] glass," Eury Jr. said. "You can mount the mirror up, but you've got to look at that as your driver has to look further away from where he's at. (Continued)