MEXICO CITY -- NASCAR has yet to make a definitive announcement on the deployment of its "new car" in the Nationwide Series, but series director Joe Balash on Sunday said the car most likely would debut in the second half of 2009 on an "intermediate" racetrack.

"We have some options that we've been talking to the owners with based on the rollout schedule," Balash said. "And one of the options that's carrying some momentum is potentially releasing the car after August [2009] on the mile-and-a-half tracks.

"We're still full bore on our test schedule -- we're still testing this year and building cars and doing those types of things, but we're working with the garage on what the right deployment schedule is."

The only track-worthy prototype of the car that currently exists is in NASCAR's hands, but even it has not been on the racetrack.

"Right now, all the testing has been done in the wind tunnel as we work on the manufacturers' individual identity pieces," Balash said. "Once we complete that cycle, which is on schedule, then we'll go to the next phase, the second half of this year, with some testing on a short track and a mile-and-a-half track with the car."

Representatives from all four manufacturers said their prospective versions of the new car had also been in the Lockheed wind tunnel in Marietta, Ga., in conjunction with NASCAR.

The next key date is the July 1 deadline for 2009 model submissions; and all four manufacturers said they anticipated no trouble in meeting that date.

Of the four, only Toyota has announced its model for the 2009 Nationwide Series. Toyota program manager for the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide series, Laerte Zatta, said the manufacturer had decided to stick with the Camry that currently races in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, but with a slight twist.

"NASCAR was looking for a pony car, or a car that's different than what we have on the Cup Series," Zatta said. "But we don't have a model that is very different. The Camry, Corolla and Avalon are very similar in design, so we decided to just go with the Camry.

"We were very open with NASCAR, because the other manufacturers were considering different models, but we don't have much option."

Zatta said the twist came with what he called "less restrictive body templates" for the Nationwide version of the car. Toyota, he said, formed the body molds for its submission car by stripping the trim off Zatta's wife's Camry.

"The detail is much more similar to a production car," Zatta said. "In fact, the original version had a license plate frame on the back, but the teams said it would give them trouble in putting on decals, so we removed it."

Doug Hervey, manager of Ford Racing Technology's North American operations, said the manufacturer was "95 percent certain" of what its model would be, but was not ready to announce it.

"We're leaning toward one over the other," Hervey said. "We've tested scale models of the car and will continue to do that, and we're totally on-track with our submission plans."

Superstore: Manufacturers

• Chevy | Ford | Dodge | Toyota

Shane Martin, GM Racing program manager for the Nationwide Series, said that Chevrolet's program is akin to Ford's.

"Yes, GM Racing and Chevrolet have determined what model we will field, but are not ready to reveal that at this time," Martin said. "Each of the manufacturers had to make changes to their particular model per NASCAR's direction.

"All OEM [Original Equipment Manufacturers] are going through the process of making these changes as directed and will have [a] final NASCAR wind tunnel test with all four manufacturers currently scheduled for late May or early June.

"If all goes well, we will be on schedule for July 1 submission."

"NASCAR hasn't announced the final rules package yet, so it would be premature for Dodge to comment on what our plans are," said Mike Delahanty, senior manger of motorsports programs for Dodge. "We are on track to meet the deadlines required by NASCAR. Other than that, it's too early for us to reveal our plans."

Balash said that while the basic 110-inch wheelbase new car chassis that has been used, first for 16 races in 2007 and currently in all Sprint Cup events, will also be used in the Nationwide Series; the manufacturers' representatives said the fact that nothing is yet approved for the 2009 Nationwide new car has precluded any teams from starting to build one.

"The final body style approval does preclude any chassis construction by the teams," Martin said.

"Because of that reason, we haven't built any on-track models," Hervey said. "And we haven't supported any of our teams doing that either. But as soon as our submission is approved, we'll be able to go full speed ahead on that."

NASCAR has scheduled the first on-track test of the new Nationwide chassis following the Sept. 5-6 race weekend at Richmond International Raceway; and the three reps who were polled said they anticipated no trouble meeting that date.

Balash said the second 2008 test would be at a 1.5-mile facility.

A couple of team owners on Sunday at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez said their biggest concern was how the current schedule demands they have a great number of cars ready for different events, such as the current stretch that includes the intermediate track at Texas, the short track at Phoenix and the Mexico City road course followed by the superspeedway at Talladega on successive weekends.

Balash said the owners' concerns were being addressed.

"The teams have talked to us about the potential of having to go back and forth between one car and another," Balash said. "What we've looked at is a deployment schedule that keeps us on the mile-and-a-half tracks [because by that time] they've already used their speedway cars and their road-course cars of the current configuration, so that makes it a cleaner transition."