Another year and another ‘new' era for NASCAR's premier series dawns this weekend at the
Daytona International Speedway as for the first time in history the ‘Sprint' Cup drivers take to the track.
Of course the ‘new' era is, in all reality, no different from the ‘old' era that was ushered out at the end of 2007 save for the change in title sponsor from Nextel to parent company Sprint but, such is NASCAR's almost continual quest to re-invent itself the series' all-powerful PR machine is abuzz about the ‘new and exciting' 2008 season.
In much the same way a new era dawned with the arrival of Nextel, the arrival of Toyota and the debut of the Car of Tomorrow, 2008 will mark the first year in which all 36 points paying races and the two non championship outings will feature the CoT, or ‘New Car' as it is now referred to.
While all the teams will have familiarised themselves with their ‘new' machinery during 2007 many questions still remain over the ability of the cars to generate good racing, as evidenced by their rather turgid restrictor plate track debut last autumn at Talladega. Despite those worries, and the fact that nearly every track saw something of a stagnation in ticket sales and TV viewing figures last year, everyone is champing at the bit ahead of another ‘classic' season – good racing or not.
In many respects 2008 will be just like 2007 for the majority of the Cup teams in that one, Hendrick Motorsports, continues to stand head and shoulders above the rest. Double defending champion Jimmie Johnson starts the season as the man to beat with quadruple series champ Jeff Gordon not far behind following his dogged chase of the #48 Chevrolet driver throughout last season's closing weeks. The arrival of Dale Earnhardt Jr to the team has generated the most PR and fan interest but NASCAR's most popular driver has to face the fact that he joins Hendrick as the fourth driver, with Casey Mears switching to the #5 Chevrolet vacated by Kyle Busch.
