THE car, period!

Maybe now ALL the drivers and fans of NASCAR will finally get it.

This is the first year that the so-called Car of Tomorrow(CoT for short)was introduced into the sport as the standard vehicle for the Sprint Cup series, the top series in NASCAR.

This after a year of criticism from drivers used to the old car's performance and looks, two things(especially the latter)that they said the newer car, heavier and boxier in shape, failed to measure up to by comparison.

The newer body style was developed in the wake of the death of the sport's biggest star, Dale Earnhardt, in 2001 after the legendary driver was killed in a crash against the wall in the Daytona 500.

Since then, the walls have been reinforced at NASCAR tracks as never before, and the cars have been built with various extra safety and restraint devices in order to prevent what happened to Earnhardt from happening again.

But it was felt that more than the extra safety devices, the cars themselves had to be built differently than before in order to better protect their occupants in the event of the inevitable high-speed mishaps endemic to stock cars in the sport.

Along with that, the feeling was that the older cars technological development had peaked, and that races tended to boil down more and more to how the cars were set up and the skill of the teams and manufacturers involved, and less on the skills of the individual drivers.

So the new cars have been built to more uniform and stricter standards, not just in terms of safety but in terms of their performance. The idea is to level the playing field, and make it easier for more teams and drivers to compete on an equal basis.

How well they've achieved the latter goal is still open to question, but after this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, there no longer can be any doubt that the newer car is better built for the driver's safety.

During qualifying for the Samsung 500 there this past Friday, rookie driver Michael McDowell inadvertently tested the car's safety features in a way he never intended.

He was going into a turn when it appeared that his car's tires slipped on the substance poured on the track after an oil spill, and his car careened almost headfirst into the wall at approximately 185 MPH.

The built-in barriers absorbed the impact, but the car nonetheless flipped over after the contact about eight times before it bounced down the track's banking and eventually settled in the infield below.

The car was totalled, but the driver compartment remained relatively intact. The crowd was hushed at what they saw, and they were quiet as much out of concern for McDowell's welfare as for the terrifying scene they had just witnessed. Was McDowell OK?

The crowd got its' answer relatively quickly, as McDowell was pulled from the car. To the astonishment of everyone near the track, in the stands, and no doubt the television audience watching the qualifying on the SPEED network, McDowell walked away from the mess to a waiting ambulance, waving to the fans as he did so.

Just moments later, McDowell was interviewed by a SPEED reporter, smiling and reassuring him that he was OK, but for a few bumps and bruises. He said he never lost consciousness during the incident, and that he "felt every roll" his car took. His tone of voice was like someone who'd endured nothing more serious than a fender bender, not like someone who went through the scary ordeal he actually went through.

Many of the drivers there feared for McDowell's welfare, if not his life. Two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart described the crash as the "hardest one I've ever seen", and pole sitter Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said it was a scary thing to witness.

Even McDowell conceded as such when he was shown the replay of the mishap. Yet, he was still smiling. The bottom line was, he was still there to see what had happened.

The commentators on SPEED were unanimous in their opinion that the design of the CoT was paramount in McDowell's being able not only to endure the crash, but to smile and discuss it just moments later with their reporters.

So, really, who cares if the newer cars ARE less attractive or less aerodynamic than their predecessors?

The fact is, they do what they're designed to do. If you still don't believe me, check out how competitive the races with the new cars have been.

And most important, ask Michael McDowell. Because the car is built the way it is, you can.

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