Report Card: How's NASCAR's Gen-6 Car Working Out So Far? Ask Carl Edwards

(Another Single File, Single Car Race-Finish)

This previous NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix brought the new Gen-6 car to a non-retrictor plate track and fans finally got a chance to see what, if anything the new car would bring to the 2013 NASCAR racing season.  And for me, I'm not seeing a huge difference in the racing.  Are you?

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For the last two years, I think we've seen some of the best racing from NASCAR that we've seen in a long time.  Well, to be technically accurate, the best race finishes.  But that's the memory TV fans usually take away from an event, the closing moments, when it all counts.

Most of the races last year and the year before had great finishes and from I saw, many fans agreed with that perspective in that the racing was the best we've seen in many years.

And hence, we were introduced to the Gen-6 car this year, with its primary redesign of how it looks more like the street cars of today.  A nice marketing tweak that's not uncommon in the world of NASCAR.

And supposedly, we were going to see better racing with the car, but so far, I've not been overly excited by what I've seen.

The race finishes at Daytona were drastically altered so most finishes were spread out single-file finishes.  Whoever got into the lead several laps prior to the checkered flag can now successfully defend their hard-earned top spot until the checkered flag.

And this last weekend at Phoenix seemed to favor the well prepared or well funded teams, as usual.

What did the Gen-6 car change at Phoenix?  I'm not sure.

-It didn't change the point standings. 

Jimmie Johnson is leading the point standings by 8 points, over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is also 8 points ahead of Brad Keselowski.

Those names seem familiar from last year.

-It might have changed the racing

This year it seemed that the field was getting more spread out and the leaders were getting way out there and holding their own.

The weather might have been more of an impact on this car, considering how some teams were dominant when the sun was out and not so much when the sun was hiding behind clouds.

There also seemed to be an awful lot of shredded tires from camber issues.  As one announcer so astutely observed, camber caused tire problems come from cars that aren't set up as well as they could be.  (Paraphrased)

-It did NOT help Danica Patrick

(Ouch, Another Camber-Induced Wall Slammer?)

I was expecting great things out of Danica Patrick.  Or maybe, more accurately, I was hoping for greater things out of this bright, lime green driver.

But she was mired back in mid-pack in the 20's, just like she was in some of her Cup races from last year.

-Chevy doesn't seem impacted by the change
As far as I could tell, it was at the behest of Chevy that NASCAR swap out body styles to better reflect the look of today's street cars on the track.

And I was concerned that with the new and different noses between manufacturers, we'd start getting the age-old grumbling about aerodynamic issues between brands.

But regardless, it's only two races in and Chevy is leading the Manufacturer's Points Race, as usual.

(Toyota is giving Chevy a run for their money in the Nationwide and Truck series, where some great racing is still to be had.  Check out the point standings in my sidebar.)

-Carl Edwards might think the Gen-6 car is helping

Finally, after a very long dry spell, Carl Edwards won a Sprint Cup race and we got to see the infamous back-flip and cruising into the stands to say thanks to the fans from Carl.

-It's not Helping NASCAR's Raceview or Other Digital Issues

With NASCAR having taken over their own digital domain, I was hoping (There that word goes again) that things would be as good or better when Turner had manipulated the digital content.

But from what I could tell, there are huge issues going on for some fans.

Raceview Consumer Contact:  If you have had issues, see if you can get some kind of feedback from  Fanfeedback@nascar.com.  I hear folks might be getting refunds for their disappointments.

I also saw one Twitter entry that made note that their NASCAR Sprint App was showing Keselowksi as the race leader, 10 laps up.  Hmm.

-Track position and fuel mileage, still the same old issues

With the Gen-6 car, we're still seeing the same old tactics being displayed.  Teams keep an eye on track position and there was noise over the telecast about fuel mileage issues.

-It did not help the Fox Race broadcast

I usually don't have anything dour to say about the race broadcasts.  They are what they are, and they're the only thing we have.  We saw a nice bit on some ride-along, but did I miss the part about the weather?

The Fox network telecast really seemed dull to me on Sunday afternoon.  Meaning, if you pulled up a laptop and started doing something else, and used verbal queues to look up, well, I had no reason to look up.

Most commentary felt pretty "calm" and level headed.

Though, I swear, when Danica Patrick hit the wall, Darrell Waltrip's first words were something to the effect that "This will ruin her championship efforts."  I can't swear that's what he said but can't attest to it because I was actually being distracted by staring at my grass growing outside the front door.  But seriously, after watching her first non-plate race, I wasn't thinking top-12 for her this year.  Hey, I could be wrong!

-Did you notice no Roof Cams?

Not sure if you heard, but the roof cameras had to go away because some team or teams figured out hot to game the covers to add up to 70 pounds of downforce to a car.

So they're not missing because of the Gen-6 reconfiguration.  They're missing because someone did "The Chad" to them.  And it probably was Chad for all we know!

Rumors are we might see them on tracks that don't depend on down-force like Martinsville.

-I LOVE the Gyro-Cam

No matter what else, I do love Fox's interior Gyro-Cam.  It showed that even a "flat" track like Phoenix, has a non-significant banking to it.

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So overall, the racing was thinned out, fuel mileage was an issue as always, track position was still a potent issue and the telecast was unfazed by it.

In fact, the finish was almost exciting because of the green-white-checkered finish and not because of the car, as far as I can tell.  Maybe next week at Las Vegas things will get tighter at the checkered flag.

Maybe.

So far, my report card for the Gen-6 car is has an "E" for effort and marketing and a "C" for competitive race finishes.

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