What a weird and ugly looking piece of metal the COT.  Suppose will get used to it but that air spliiter and wing just destroy the sleek lines of todays cup cars.  Reminds me of the cars they wanted to use in the 'never got off the ground' TRAC series - identical spec cars that mimic IROC.  At least I can tell a Chevy from a Ford from a Dodge with the current noses and tails but looking at the COT I just don't see any disimilarities between brands.  Sucks that the identity of the brands is going to be further eroded and harder to distinguish from one another.  Why would a manufacturer want to stay in cup when your brand looks like all the other brands?  Isn't that why the major manufacturers are in cup to begin with, to sell cars at the dealerships?  I know a cup car is a far cry from a stock car but I believe the COT takes the disimilarity to a new level which could destroy brand loyalty of the fan base.

Well, I am driver loyal not brand loyal so from that aspect, there are fans like me who could give a rip.  Now, the car is fugly but...  The front splitter and rear spoiler will add a new demension to aero tunability, especially with regards to front downforce.  For that, I am excited.  That will be really cool. 

The one drawback to the front spoiler is if a driver spins the car on the apron, much like Harvick did this past weekend at MIS, the splitter will be destroyed.  That is going to suck but I'm sure the teams will figure a way out to make the appropriate repairs.  But it would take alot more time than say an F1 car when you can just replace the whole nose in a matter of seconds.

I imagine they'll do more than they did with the test cars to make them look manufacturer specific.

I see they did decide to go with the idea that NASCAR issues you the wing. Mark my words -- that's all about getting the name of the series sponsor on the cars. I hate that part about it.

next will be the engines just a matter of time.....

any insight as to why they're debuting the car at Bristol, which can not be accused of being an aero sensitive track.

My guess is they want to make sure the "wheels don't fall off" of the car before they gt into the aero sensitive tracks.  That and they need more development time.

jlb:

any insight as to why they're debuting the car at Bristol, which can not be accused of being an aero sensitive track.

I'm fairly certain it debuts at the Daytona 500 next season.

Plates (four), short tracks (six), and maybe the two roadies...I can't recall if they're for COT 07 or not.

No Daytona. http://community.racingone.com/forums/thread/19413.aspx