Inside the Halls of Petty: The long COT wait is over

Hey guys, Robbie Loomis again. I hope everyone had a good week. We didn't fair too bad down at Atlanta. It was chilly, but Bobby warmed things up for everyone on Friday night during qualifying.

Inside Petty

Each week on NASCAR.COM, Robbie Loomis will take fans "Inside the Halls of Petty Enterprises." A championship-winning crew chief, Loomis has 26 victories atop the pit box and as Vice President of Operations oversees both Petty cars.

He qualified his Dodge sixth. That's the best qualifying effort for the team this season. Kyle and his team had their hands full, but ended their weekend better later in the race Sunday. It wasn't the results we were looking for. We know we have more work to do.

Looking ahead, that red-letter date that everyone has circled on their calendars is here. This weekend the Car of Tomorrow will become the Car of Today. Bristol Motor Speedway will be the stage on which these state-of-the-art "stock cars" will make their debut.

By now you have all seen what a COT looks like. It's a little different with the front splitter and the wing where the spoiler used to sit. These modifications were made in an attempt to make the cars less dependant on aerodynamics. NASCAR hopes that this will provide more side-by-side racing, similar to what you see in the Craftsman Truck Series.

The cars are also much safer, with larger greenhouse areas and seats that are closer to the center of the car. These safety improvements are the most important feature of these new rides. As for the improvements in the racing, we will find that out soon enough.

I've been asked a lot about this new car. Questions like, "What do you think?" and "Will it even the playing field?" and "Is this going to improve our sport?"

We are hoping that two of the main objectives for this project are accomplished. Obviously safety is the main objective. It always has been for this car. I like that. That's good to see. The car is designed to help keep the stars of our sport safe -- that's important. We also hope that it evens the playing field between the one- to two-car teams and the four- to five-car teams. (Continued)