Welcome to ‘Tomorrow’

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a normal year, most of the talk heading into the season-opening Daytona 500 would be about a few key driver changes and maybe a technical rule change.

This is no normal year.

Heading into the opening of practice today for the made-for-TV Budweiser Shootout – a race Saturday for last year’s pole winners and drivers who previously won the exhibition event – challenges abound.

Most drivers agree that the biggest hurdle for all the teams this season is the introduction of the Car of Tomorrow, NASCAR’s answer to rising costs and the need for more driver safety and added competition.

At least, the sanctioning body hopes the COT is the answer.

The new car, a wider, taller version of the cars that will race at Daytona over the next 10 days, will be used in 16 of the 36 Nextel Cup races this season, beginning in March at Bristol International Speedway.

“The Car of Tomorrow is going to be the biggest challenge for everyone,” J.J. Yeley said Thursday during NASCAR’s Media Day at Daytona International Speedway. “The way the cars are structured, with some of the pieces and packages they have, I know, talking to crew chiefs, it’s going to be a bigger headache than restrictor plate racing has ever been.”

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin shook his head when asked about the COT, noting his Ginn Racing team is way behind on the new car.

“The one time I drove the Car of Tomorrow, it didn’t drive good. And Joe (Nemechek), said the same thing, it didn’t drive good. And Mark (Martin) said it didn’t drive good. That’s three good drivers that said it didn’t drive good. So there you have it.”

But the COT, which will be phased into the entire schedule over three seasons, is hardly the only challenge for the Cup drivers and teams in 2007.

There also is the issue of numbers.

Daytona officials said they expect between 60 and 62 cars to show up for the first Daytona 500 practice Saturday. Because all of the Cup fields number 43 cars, that means a lot of good drivers and equipment are going home after pole qualifying Sunday and Thursday’s twin 150-mile qualifying races determine the starting lineup for the Feb. 18 race.

Beyond that, at least 50 of those entries are expected to show up again for many of the races this season.

“To me, what that does is force everyone to step up,” said Denny Hamlin, last year’s top Cup rookie. “Trying to run in the top 25 this year is probably going to be like running in the top 10 last year. It’s going to be really tough.”

All the full-time teams have sponsors who put up big money expecting to see their cars race each weekend. A lot of them are going to be disappointed.

Under NASCAR’s current rules, the top 35 teams in car owner points are guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup each week. For the first five races of each season, the points from the previous season are used.

That leaves eight spots for the rest of the drivers.

“This year is going to be a make or break year for everybody,” said Kenny Wallace, one of the drivers who has to race or qualify his way in. “You’re going to see a lot of team go, ‘Hey, this is stupid.’ Next year, the car count will be a lot less because you just can’t keep showing up and missing races all the time.

“Any way you look at it, it costs at least $60,000 just to show up: airplane tickets, hotel rooms, per diem, tires, the motor. And I’m probably conservative on that number.”

Wallace, who doubles as a TV commentator for cable network Speed, said sponsors are taking more of a risk to get in Cup because it’s more popular.

“They’d rather spend $12 million to $15 million to sponsor a Cup team then $5 million or $6 million for a good Busch team,” he added. “And it’s not getting any cheaper. Whatever cost $5 five years ago, you’d better have $10 now. It’s big. We spent $12 million last year and finished 41st in points.”

The situation is compounded by Toyota entering the Cup series.

Bill Davis Racing switched from Dodge to Toyota, but the manufacturer’s other two Cup teams are new.

Michael Waltrip Racing has three cars here and Team Red Bull will field two cars.

The only one of those five entries guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500 is Dale Jarrett, who will get the former series champion’s provisional (the 43rd starting position) if he fails to qualify any other way in his Waltrip ride.

Brian Vickers, racing for Team Red Bull after leaving the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team, said, “It would be pretty disappointing for me, personally, not making a race, much less the Daytona 500, much less not our first race with Red Bull.

“But Red Bull is here to stay for a long time. They have a vested interest in supporting the team because they own it. Not everybody is in that position.”