Earnhardt Jr frustrated by CoT

The DEI driver finished 13th last Sunday in the fourth Car of Tomorrow event of the season at Richmond International Raceway, struggling to recover from a spin halfway through the race.

"We had a car that just wouldn't handle. It was rough because I couldn't get it to go where I needed it to pass cars," Earnhardt said at Richmond on Sunday.

"These cars handle terrible - but they're like tanks - you can beat and bang and run 'em into anything: other cars, the wall, anything. I hit 'em all today, got bounced around and it just keeps going."

On Monday, before starting a two-day test at Lowe's Motor Speedway with the old specification of car, Earnhardt Jr went even further with his negative remarks about the Car of Tomorrow.

"Even when you're running in second or third position, you're just the best of the worst-handling cars out there," he added. "You're just trying to be the guy with the least amount of problems.

"It's going to take a lot of time to figure out, but right now it's just about the most frustrating thing I've ever had to deal with."

Earnhardt Jr was also emphatically against the idea of running the car in the non-points All Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway, as a test of the new car's performance on the 1.5-mile ovals , which are not included in its roll-out schedule for this year.

"That's a terrible idea, actually, because that's a lot of money," he said. "I don't want the Car of Tomorrow to throw a monkey wrench in there. That ain't no test, that's a million dollars you're racing for."

"I don't look at that as a test at all. I want the best chance I get to win, and driving a CoT doesn't give me a better chance."

Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby stated on Monday at Lowe's that despite understanding the frustration of some drivers with the new car, he doesn't see the need to change anything about it yet.

"I would imagine anybody yesterday other than Jimmie Johnson had a concern or a frustration of some sort, because that's the way our sport works," Darby said. "But frustrating to the point that we're going to change anything moving forward, probably not."