NASCAR's so called "Car of Tomorrow" officially became the "Car of Today" at the beginning of the 2008 season, but for the first time, the new car will be raced at a 1 1/2 mile oval Sunday in Las Vegas. The Car received mix reviews during it's trial run in 2007 (run in about half the races) but those races were all at tracks less than 1 1/2 mile. NASCAR has seven tracks that are listed at 1 1/2 mile, and with around 40 percent of the races coming on these "cookie-cutter" tracks, NASCAR needs these cars to perform well at the intermediates.

A huge test was passed last weekend, as the race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California produced some of the best racing at a two-mile oval in some time. Carl Edwards edged Jimmie Johnson and won a rain-delayed but competitive race. A good show at Vegas will quiet alot of doubters, a bad contest will fuel those same critics.

In a sport that promotes parity, Hendrick Motorsports won exactly half (18 out of 36) of the races in 2007. A ton of those victories came in the COT, and it was refreshing to see a team that struggled a large part of 2007 with the new car, Roush Racing, win in the second race of 2008.

The success of the new car depends on three things

1. TV ratings-stunk last year, and need improvement.

2. Parity- If Hendrick or any other team dominates again, it will likely start effect variable #1

3. Quality of Racing- The most important variable.... a boring race effects TV ratings, which effects sponsors, which effects the sport....

 Time will tell on the "New NASCAR" but one thing is sure... if you lose your base fan, you lose your heart... if the base doesn't like the new car, it's unlikely any new fans will be able to replace the old fans passion and love for the sport.