Chevy Missed A Great Opportunity

[FenwickHockey65]

And Chevy still won.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by flyer08

Maybe its me but I see nothin resembling the challenger except the R/T on the front grill

TRUE. The only thing in NASCAR whether it is the Sprint Cup or Nationwide Series which identifies the car now days is the front nose piece.
It sure would look cool to see a Camaro nose piece in the races with the Mustangs & Challengers.
The only point I'm making is the Camaro will be left out from all the excitement of the new body style changes.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by Tom

It sure would look cool to see a Camaro nose piece in the races with the Mustangs & Challengers.

No it wouldn't. The Camaro's front fascia is V-shaped and pointed. The NASCAR "stock car's" front end is round. It just wouldn't work and would look absolutely awful.

["prima"Donna]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

Don't be offended by my bluntness, but let's be real. Those cars could not be much uglier. They look nothing like the original cars they are supposed to represent. The Impala is the most genuine of the 3, and it doesn't even look right. The Challenger and Mustang look like sell-outs for even being in the races when the superior competitor isn't even on the track.

There should be a racing series where the tracks have turns that aren't only to the left and the cars are a little more real. I would happily support Camaros in that race, but not on NASCAR oval tracks.

There is a racing series that races REAL Camaros and REAL Mustangs!!!...AND, they are road races...

It is the Grand Am Racing Series....there are 2 tiers, just like Nationwide and Sprint Cup....

Stevenson Motorsports races the #6 & #9 Sunoco Camaros in the Continental Tire Series, and the #57 & 97 Stevenson Camaros in the Rolex Series...

Here are some pictures of the Sunoco Camaros!!!...ENJOY!!!...

I have been a NASCAR fan since forever, because my dad always followed NASCAR, however, the Grand Am Series is my new favorite form of racing!!!...

They televise the Grand Am races on the SPEED Channel...in fact, there is a Grand Am Rolex Series race on SPEED tomorrow, Saturday, July 3rd at 1pm at Daytona!!!...

[dplyttle]

The Mustang and Challenger are nothing more than stickers placed on the revised COT. I remember when there were actually different cars from the actual manufacturer on the track; different front ends, rear ends, gear ratios, etc. Now all the cars are identical save for the motor development. I would LOVE to see the actual Pony cars race rather than a homogenized COT with a "manufacturer" sticker on the front end.

[rdblan2]

Nothing stock about a stock car, even the body.

[usa1camaro1969]

They went to the COT in an attempt to have a safer, cheaper, and level the playing field between the competition. The major differences are the decals and a nose piece. I agree when everyone says they look ugly. I'm glad they got rid of the wing and went to the spoiler.
How far back do you have to go to think about when they were racing "true" stock cars? The 80's Monte Carlos were rear drive, then they went to the Lumina which was front drive.
I won't go hating on Ford or Dodge for their change. Ford was fielding the Fusion(?) and Dodge had the 4-door Charger.
And the Wrangler#3 Earnhardt car won. Just like back in the day.

[justin2fast4u]

camaro in nascar would look something like this

[stikSS]

I'm a big race fan, and really think the new Nationwide cars are what the sport needs to restore it's "stock" car identity. We all know they can't run stocks cars with the speeds and style of racing they do today. Look back over the past 15 years and you will see NO identity to those cars, all the same body curves, just different badging and motors. Last night, if anybody here noticed, they identified headlight styles, vents in the hoods, door handles, parking lights, taillights, exhaust tips, body mold consistent to the street cars, and model badges.

I would much rather see the Camaro than an Impala, just because they're trying to restore the roots of NASCAR and give each manufacturer it's on representation again. I give em a A+ for the effort so far!

[DarrenJ]

Originally Posted by justin2fast4u

camaro in nascar would look something like this

That would look awesome if that big, goofy wing was removed...

[BackinBlackSS/RS]

Originally Posted by stikSS

I'm a big race fan, and really think the new Nationwide cars are what the sport needs to restore it's "stock" car identity. We all know they can't run stocks cars with the speeds and style of racing they do today. Look back over the past 15 years and you will see NO identity to those cars, all the same body curves, just different badging and motors. Last night, if anybody here noticed, they identified headlight styles, vents in the hoods, door handles, parking lights, taillights, exhaust tips, body mold consistent to the street cars, and model badges.

I would much rather see the Camaro than an Impala, just because they're trying to restore the roots of NASCAR and give each manufacturer it's on representation again. I give em a A+ for the effort so far!

I agree with much of your post, BUT, they need to go further and get these cars
closer to stock as possible. I think many are missing the point here. They are all complaining about how these cars are not stock anymore, which they are not.
However, NASCAR is hopefully learning from it's mistakes and is moving back in the right direction. I hope the progression continues.

[Tom]

Well there you go Chevrolet...look who won last night at Daytona in the Nationwide Series race. One of your cars.

What a story it could have been to report that Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins for the first time in over two years with his famous father's number 3 on the side (something he was only doing for this one race) of the new Camaro which was making it's debut at Daytona.
Instead...he won in an Impala, when the Ford drivers had the Mustang and the Dodge drivers had the Challenger. The Camaro lost out on a big opportunity to shine on TV in front of thousands of viewers not including the thousands that were there in person.
And I'm sure there are lots of Jr. fans who own Camaros who were probably wondering why is he in an Impala when these Mustangs & Challengers are here.

I'm well aware of the fact of how many months in a row that the Camaro has out sold the Mustang & Challenger without having the exposure of being in a NASCAR race and that NASCAR is not as popular as it once was,
but the marketing opportunity in NASCAR is huge! Everybody knows that.

And forget how ugly the car would be or how unlike it would look compared to our beautiful rides. These are not car shows, they are car races and if the Mustang & Challenger is going to be there then all those Impala nose pieces should be replaced with a Camaro nose piece. The Camaro deserves that. It would have been much more exciting to see the Camaro in Victory Lane last night kicking ass the very first time it showed up at Daytona, than the Impala.

Come On Chevy... Wake Up & Be Part Of The Party.
People on this forum are always comparing the Mustang, Challenger, & Camaro. All the automotive magazines write about it.
Don't get left behind in the excitement it could bring if all three cars competed on the track together. Not just two of them.

[FenwickHockey65]

New Nationwide cars don't look like Mustang, Challenger; NASCAR still irrelevant

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/03/n...lenger-nascar/

Last fall, NASCAR, Ford and Dodge all made a lot of noise about the introduction of the Mustang and Challenger bodies into the Nationwide race series. This all came after the latest Sprint Cup "Car of Tomorrow" drew criticism because all four participating brands had identical body shells, none of which looked like the stock road cars that lend them their names. The initial renderings focused on the front ends of the new racers, which featured more upright noses like the real pony cars you'll find in dealer showrooms.

Unfortunately, with this weekend's race debut of the Mustang and Challenger at Daytona, NASCAR proves yet again that nothing has really changed. Despite the the upright front ends, these cars don't look markedly different from each other, or even the Sprint Cup cars, for that matter. With the headlight and grille stickers blurred out, neither of the new Nationwide stockers looks like a pony car. Can you tell which is which? Check out the originals after the jump.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Tom

...The Camaro deserves that.

Come On Chevy... Wake Up & Be Part Of The Party.
People on this forum are always comparing the Mustang, Challenger, & Camaro. All the automotive magazines write about it.
Don't get left behind in the excitement it could bring if all three cars competed on the track together. Not just two of them.

The Camaro deserves to not be bastardized and diluted by being made to look like one of those "stock" cars...

NASCAR is about the driver and team...all the cars are virtually identical. So the cars wouldn't be competing against each other, not at all! Their names would be on the sides of three carbon-copies on the same racetrack with different drivers.

I think you're attaching far too important a value to the names they use in that series. Considering they're all virtually identical, the Impala is no more an Impala than the Mustang is a Mustang...IMO, they should be referring to them as the "Chevy car" or the "Ford Car"...because they share absolutely nothing with any single nameplate....imho.