Busch praises Car of Tomorrow

The Penske driver set a blistering pace on Wednesday morning with his Dodge Avenger, lapping nearly 4 mph faster than the quickest car of the current spec.

However, he achieved this running a 1 1/8-inch restrictor, compared to the 7/8-inch plate that the rest of the cars were fitted with.

"I though it was great," Busch said. "We had to make sure of the fender clearances and that the car was OK with its clearance underneath. We just went for two laps at a time and it really turned out to be positive."

Busch said he and his team tested the car at Daytona this week to try and get ahead of their rivals with the developement of their Car of Tomorrow.

"It's just a matter of us wanting to get ahead of the game and set the curve and raise the bar for people thinking they've got their COT scienced-out. In the end this Car of Tomorrow is going to be a good thing."

The Car of Tomorrow has raised controversy between drivers and teams. While some have openly expressed they disagree with its introduction by NASCAR, Kurt Busch is full of praise for it.

"To see NASCAR's direction with this Car of Tomorrow with the safety being the number one quality within this car, obviously the way that they've crash-tested it, the different foam that they've inserted on this car, the different flame-resistant materials, all-around the safety is a positive with this car."

A rear wing and a different front-end splitter are among the main visual and aerodynamic differences between the Car of Tomorrow and the current spec of NASCAR cars. Busch believes this will open a broader spectrum for crew chiefs.

"I've got an open-wheel crew chief, his background is open-wheels, he has all this different wing angles and different areas of looking at a rear wing that some of this stock-car crew chiefs don't really know."

The Car of Tomorrow will make its race debut at the half-mile Bristol oval on March 25th.