@JGR4LIFEAgreed, I grew up watching the COT and rewatched the few COT races on NASCAR classics and liked the racing I saw, is it just me or was the COT really good.
Both of yall are weird….. like how Mike & Mike had a morning show on ESPN when fans do something way toooo dumb. We need a banning., 48 hours neither of yall can watch new content from Jared
I know the cars controversial, but being born in ‘05, this was the car that was my intro to NASCAR,the Jeff Gordon flame car was a integral part of my childhood with that pretty blue and red and big ass wing, so this car will always hold a special place in my heart
‘01 kid, feel the same way I found nascar by channel surfing in 2007 and the first thing that caught my eye was that blue car with red flames, a yellow number, and a fat wing Definitely threw me off when the next week there was no wing 😂
Those early years of the COT were great. The #48 team making history, Red Bull’s rise, Kyle Busch’s breakout, Keselowski’s first win and the return of Mark Martin. A pretty good era.
The crazy thing about the first part of The COT era was they kinda make the car look like S2000 Touring Cars, especially with front splitter and rear wing.
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 The website is full of shit then. Cause when the NXTGEN started it was 550, and the Charlotte test at the end of 2021 is when they finally changed it 670 after all the drivers were spinning out constantly on solo runs. Crazy what happens when you add power to a car that produces 80% of its downforce from the floor it actually sticks to the race track.
Am I the only one who finds it severely underrated? I personally love this era just probably because a lot of the moments that came out of this era like Tony winning the championship in 2011, or the moments with Jimmie and Jeff. Or maybe it’s because of the models, yes I actually like them, despite winged spoilers NOT fitting NASCAR very well, I actually think the models looked pretty good especially more with the 2010-2012 spoilers. And one big reason I like them is because I miss Dodge, the COT era was the last time Dodge was in NASCAR. I will admit 2007-2008 was a pretty bad start for the era, but it got better and I might have bad taste, but I don’t hate it, I can’t bring myself to hate it. I Love the COT Era, change my mind
The COT with the spoiler instead of the wing is one of the best looking cars in my opinion. Always thought it visually represented what a NASCAR stock car was, a car with tons of horsepower, little grip, and the aerodynamic properties of a brick.
I like the test car versions of it that weren't trying to be a Fusion or Camry. The base shape of the car really did look like someone heard about aerodynamics from a friend and then attached those concepts to a long brick.
I grew up in the COT era (being born in '04). My first race being the 2010 Emory Healthcare 500. This era will always have a special place in my heart for introducing me to the sport. Putting all of that aside, I can still understand and recognize it's many flaws.
The COT era is when I first started getting into Nascar, with Truex being my favorite driver in the 1. A very nostalgic car and I have a lot of respect for it.
The COT will always be remembered for the beginning of the decline from relevance. I remember tuning into the “game day esk” pre race show on speed in 2007 and seeing fans holding “COT SUCKS” signs. That was the first time I’d seen anything negative about any of the cars, and it was all downhill from there…
I gotta admit, I checked out when they brought in the giant spoilers. I thought they looked stupid and were trying to attract the Fast and Furious crowd so I quit watching for a good amount of years. I only started again after 2020 when it was the only sport on during the pandemic and looking back I missed some pretty decent seasons from that time.
I hated the COT era after the great years of the gen 4, preferably early gen 4 but the twisted cars were something. The wing was stupid, the lack of brand identity and the tandem drafting were just not fun to watch. I only like the improved safety the car brought. Gen 6 was an improvement for me as I like that the cars were identifiable again. What hurt the gen 6 was the low hp motors at the end. I still don’t look back fondly at the COT era.
Honestly, I liked the COT car with the wing on it. I was in my early 20's at that time and liked that car and how it looked. Really wish IRacing would find and scan one of the winged COT cars to have in sim.
I grew up with the COT, Speed channel had great coverage in south america making it way more exciting, thank you Tony Rivera for amazing play by play commentary, I was also a Montoya fan because he was the only south american, had to root for him, it's a shame he never got that oval win, still pissed at that Indy race.. The race was really fun, all the battles and drama felt fantastic, I loved the look of the car but I understand older fans dislike for it. Sadly south american coverage started getting inconsistent after Speed channel died, sometimes we would have no broadcast, so it got harder to follow and then my interest dropped, it's a shame. Nowadays, coverage is at the worst state so following NASCAR is just really hard from here
The COT era is where I started to drop off. I didn't even know they switched to spoilers, which led to a moment that's hilarious to me in retrospect when I tuned into the 2017 Daytona 500 and said "Oh, they went back to using spoilers". Yeah, like 6 years ago, dude! 😆
its when I pretty much went bye as well. between that and the gimmick playoff thing ruined it to be. cars I remember fondly was the late 80s cars cause they actually looked like the cars you would see on the streets even true into the 90s but man those 80s car was special to me.
Yes and the Winston Cup point system was the best. I remember going to Talladega in the late 80's and seeing Rusty's 27 car being worked on. Clearly remember seeing where they cut the stock body to remove unnecessary metal from under the deck lid.
To me 2011 and 2012 are some of the greatest nascar seasons in the 21sr century. For once the format actually did make the racing WAY more exciting especially in 2011. Watching the points battle week after week must’ve been incredible, seeing Tony Stewart slowly nudge his way into first place with win after win after win was historic. NASCAR had its darkest era with JJ’s reign of terror. The popularity drop from 2006-2010 was brutal and nascar still has not recovered. But the wildcard chase format really did do wonders for the sport in those two years. I think the Next Gen will be another great era if they can fix the car and the format over time like they did with the COT
I hated Jimmie Johnson winning even an early season race because I just knew he was going to win nonstop once he started winning and wouldn't stop, and it was brutal to get through, by 2008 I was sick of him and 2009 I'd rather anyone even Kyle Busch over Jimmie Johnson...that championship run really hurt NASCAR and he's the reason we have the current playoffs system to prevent someone from ever winning another 5 in a row.
Funny thing, The wing car was Kevins kryptonite. His last win prior was the Gen4 car (2007 daytona 500) and his next win was the COT spoiler, (not wing) in 2010 Talladega.
I was one of those 5 year old kids who really only watched the M&M car in '08. I've watched some of the race recently and I totally agree with you. I wish I could remember watching this era but I just remember getting excited the M&M car was doing burnouts after a win and wrecking other cars on track. 😂😂
@@thighhigh423 Consider yourself part of a somewhat bigger minority. I actually liked (still do, actually) the wing, and I watched my fair share of Gen 4 racing as a youth.
I was a child during the COT era, and i remember it with Rose Tinted Glasses. I remember Tony Stewart going from the Home Depot 20 to the Office Depot 14 and winning the 2011 season. I remember that season the most
IanPerez2000 would like to have a word with you. Too bad NASCAR can't bring back the COT so racing can be good again everywhere. Granted the Next-gen is still improving, but not still not back to how the Cup series was
As an Indycar fan in addition to NASCAR, the COT era in NASCAR is very similar to the start of the single chassis era with Dallara in 2012 in terms of a major change affecting the sport. I grew up in the era of the mid to late 90's in which you had Lola, Ranyard, G-Force & Dallara (among others) make the chassis & Oldsmobile, Infiniti, Cosworth, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Chevy & even Mercedes make engines in both CART & the IRL. For all of its problems "The Split" was the driving force behind this level of involvement & innovation from manufacturers & the racing it produced in both series was excellent. When Indycar introduced the DW12, I was mad because the cars looked more like a fantasy car that Hot Wheels would make than an actual Indycar. This era also largely meant the end of ovals in Indycar (apart from the Indy 500) in favor of terrible street circuits & ESPN's growing disinterest to the point that NBC would take over full time with Indycar from 2019 onwards including the Indy 500. However unlike NASCAR, Indycar is still largely in this era & it is hurting the long term health of the series because nothing has changed when it comes to the chassis & the engine manufacturers are still Chevy & Honda.
So, for an idea of the initial COT car, Jared mentioned that the main difference was the decals... This was especially called out by EA Sports, who in one of the last years of their contract, they scanned a COT and put it in the game... With NO manufacturer decals or anything... This didn't help the distain with the fans at the time, either Also... Was that Avenged Sevenfold playing in the background???
Tbh my view on COT era is totally different because that was the time I got into NASCAR and got so fascinated by it. For example I never understood criticism of these cars - yeah, maybe they didn't look like typical racecars but to me they were quintessential NASCAR cars. Big, blocky, heavy-looking - something NASCAR was all about for me as it was very unique, its own animal and also that's why it was so fascinating and exciting. And yeah, all these drivers, like Jimmie's domination in #48 Lowe's, young and fast but unreliable Kyle Busch in #18, old Mark Martin killing it in #5 and so on and so forth. It all had this massive mojo for me and that's why I look at it with huge nostalgia
Completely unrelated, but I feel like the pacing of this video could be a solid foundation for you (perhaps with a little help from your NWP compadres) to put together "The Entire History Of NASCAR, I Guess" Related to the video, I had stopped watching NASCAR after the 2007 season after I moved from NC to outside the DC area simply because the kids in my new school didn't watch even when it was good & I didn't pick back up watching until 2011, so I think I timed it perfectly as I missed out on the worst part of the COT era.
Overall the COT era was better than people give it credit for. Car was ugly yes but the racing was pretty good as a whole. A few that come to mind are the 2010 Aaron’s 499 and the 2009 all star race which was the last good all star race at CMS. And the 2011 Ford 400
Dale Jr. actually had 4 wins in the COT era when you include his 2008 Budweiser Shootout and 2008 Gatorade Duel wins. You also failed to mention how the Xfinity Series adopted their own COT version in 2010 and have used it since. The 2011-2012 Cup Series COTs were actually inspired by the Xfinity Series COT that was introduced in 2010. That is some pretty crucial info you left out.
I was in college 2007-2011, so the COT era is linked to that. I remember spending weekends watching NASCAR all weekend; practice, qualifying, and races for Trucks, Nationwide, and Cup. Made a few new friends who were also NASCAR fans that I could to talk to and watch races with.
I didn’t realize that the wing COT lasted as long as it did. In my mind it only lasted a season before they went to the spoiler, so my mind is a little blown. But I started watching NASCAR in the early 90s, so the COT era was far from my favorite. But I was also a Dale Sr. fan, and his death was still fairly recent and I was still having a hard time being into NASCAR during that time. At least to me, it was a forgettable era.
This era is over a decade old???? I am getting old. That's so crazy to think about. Nascar legends are all gone now. I'm 2 years from 30... Man... Time flies
I honestly liked the wing on the car but if the front end looked like 2011 overall would have looked better. Also Gordon's wreck at Vegas is one that I point to that lost him valuable wins during that era because he never seemed quite the same after it til he broke out again in the Gen 6 era before retiring. It also seemed to be the era that Gordon seemed to have a knack for wrecking into the part of a track that didn't have a safer barrier.
funny, the first time i saw the COT design and that rear wing, i immediately said "anyone in that car who winds up backwards at speed is going seriously airborne." turns out i was right. they went back to spoilers i think not too long after the second guy caught air if i recall correctly. Edwards, and i don't recall the other one.
The COT era was where I first watched a full Nascar race for the first time. Although in the winged COT with the weird front, it was a race that I consider good, the 2008 Sharpie 500 in Bristol. It had a classic short track finish. The last sellout of the famous 55 sellout streak at the track. I started following it up close the season after. It was a time of many extreme changes as you said it, the majority of the people were just not ready to. All things considered, I don't consider it really bad. As you said it, the 2011 and 12 seasons were very good to watch. But the turmoil was excessive, probably more changes in 5 years regarding the details of the sport than in the 50 years prior. And this even reflected in the end. When they got must of the issues solved, the overall quality of the races better and fans were getting used to the COT and starting to feel better about the car, Nascar started from scratch again. It defined Nascar fandom overall, a very thin level of patience.
Being from the UK and only really watching Nascar recently, the COT era does still resonate with me. Even though I didnt watch Nascar apart from snippets on Mobil 1: The Grid (a tv show that did weekly recaps and highlights of different series), I got a Jimmie Johnson COT Scalextric car (this was in 2009 as the car still had the rear wing) for Christmas and had so much fun with it and still have it.
Biggest thing I remember most about COT the dicast cars. Me and my family had at least 6 with the wings were cirp that after opening the box for the first time.
Same age as me, except I loved Tony Stewart’s 20 and played the EA NASCAR games from 2005-2008, just getting out of it before the COT was introduced to video games. Then I came back in the pandemic when I was much older and I’m a full blown fan
NASCAR absolutely nailed the COT in 2011-2012. It easily had some of the best racing since the Gen-4 car, and I'm really disappointed they ditched it so soon after they got it right. I think it was Tony Stewart who said, "They spent 5 years perfecting this car and then just dumped it," or something to that affect. I could be wrong. That redesign could have gone another 3-4 seasons.
So I was in high school through out this era and I remember distinctly how different they looked because of those rear wings and front splitter. Also this era was featured in Transformers 3 as the 3 Autobots in the Chicago scene. #42 Target Chevrolet driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, #88 Amp Energy Chevrolet driven Junior, and the all mighty Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet
Dude, you explained the COT perfectly! As much as people love to complain about the looks of the Next-gen car, the COT was WAY worse in terms of looks, and, at intermediate tracks, racing! In fact, is was so bad at the beginning of the COT era, Fox started resorting to gimicks like the "Digger Cam", and ultimately, the cartoon that played at the beginning of their broadcasts in an attempt to keep viewers engaged! I would also mention TNT and ESPN, but you pretty much said everything that needed to be said there! Bottom line is the "show" these cars were putting at alot of the tracks on was not helping situation! In reality, NASCAR's transformation into a "spec" series and the nosedive in the quality of the broadcasts of the races really started with the first 2 1/2 years of the COT! The only thing that really saved this era was going back to the rear spoiler and the changes to the nose section, which not only helped the look of the car, but actually improved the racing. Had NASCAR stuck with the status-quo with the wing and the splitter and brackets, this would have been NASCAR's worst era ever, even worse than the current car!
I got to see a couple races with Gen 4 cars in person and then switched to COT and I was only like 11 or 12 at the time so I found the cars to be cool. Had pretty great racing through all the iterations of it also in my eyes and seeing what was on TV. I do miss these years od NASCAR though
I grew up in the cot area and I’m not gonna lie I always loved them, not as much as classic stock cars but still I really did love them, I had so many dale earnhardt diecast from the cot area
The later COT era was good. But when it first came out with the wing, it was ugly. The first iteration of the COT from 2007-2009 racing wise wasn’t great. The later COT produced some of the best racing from 2010 onward. And the safety advancements they made were definitely for the better.
i was born in 08 so i didn’t really get to watch most of this. i’m a big fan of drifting and especially the track “sekia hills” in kyushu. one of the most popular bodykits was the URAS Type GT bodykit. the CoT oddly reminds me of that car and personally i think the CoT is the best looking nascar of all time. also jeff gordon’s flame paint job was perfection. so was jimmy johnson’s car and so was JRs. hendrick was doing something right.
Great video and thanks for reminding me about the progression of this car. I had forgotten about the COT era in a weird way. Probably because I went active duty in 2011 and just couldn't watch anymore until 2020. ALSO. I didn't notice it until like 9 minutes in and heard the strings from "Afterlife" but the background music is amazing.
Critical acclaim avenged sevenfold classic rendition. As a mega a7x fan I heard the rhythm and my head snapped into full attention on my second monitor
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. Ironically, that's what a lot of car companies do when they introduce a new generation of a car. They adopt a brand new body but just make small tweaks to the platform underneath.
I think a lot of what you said about stagnant racing is true from this era. The Car of the Turning problem as I like to call it, definitely made exciting tracks such as my season ticket track, Texas; very boring. I remember passing out for 50 laps one year lol
2004 kid here, the COT was that main car that I thought of was a NASCAR, of course that wasn't righted until gen 6 and good replays of gen 4 races were brought to DVD or TH-cam
COT should have been more like the Gen 6, it would have been so much better received if they had skipped COT entirely and just jumped straight to Gen 6 and said they were bringing back stock cars fans would have loved it.
I was entering my mid teens when the cot came out and the look just turned me off of nascar for a long time. I still don't think any of the cars look as good as Gen 4, cot, Gen 5-6 all just look odd to me. I wish nascar had tried to make the Gen 4 safer or kept the look moving forward. There was so much change during this time, if there had been one semi constant I don't think it would have fallen off as much
Joerut000000 has done a deep dive on every race in this era (actually every race from '05-2019, with more on the way). According to his rankings, the 10 worst COT races are: 2008 Indianapolis (15/100) 2008 Spring Dover (26/100) 2009 Indianapolis (29/100) 2011 Fall Charlotte (31/100) 2008 Southern 500 (35/100) 2012 Auto Club (35/100) 2012 Kentucky (37/100) 2008 Spring Richmond (37/100) 2007 Fall Loudon (38/100) 2012 August Pocono (39/100) For what it's worth, the Gen 6 era had 26 races ranked lower than the 10th lowest on this list, though the '08 Brickyard has the single lowest rating.
After they debuted the COT I took a break from watching NASCAR religiously, I did not like what they did to the car. I was also tired of Jimmie Johnson wining every damn year. I started to come back after they got rid of the COT and now I'm back watching every week.
If the COT era started in 2011, NASCAR would have not fallen off the way it did. In 2011 the cars looked a lot better, the racing was better, the chase format worked, and Allen Bestwick was back to calling races on espn. If that all happened in 2007, the sport would be completely different
2007 the racing did suck. 2008 I remember the 3-way battle for the lead with the Roush cars at Dover, unbelievable racing. I went to Michigan in 2010 and it was a pretty good race, and the fall 2010 and 2011 races at Texas I went to were classics. I think the cars looked better with the molded nosepieces in 2011 and 12,
This might just be me, but I kinda wish Nascar found a way to bring the rear wing back for the next gens. I know people didn’t like because of the flips, but my god it looked cool!!
Hated the COT. I grew up in the 90’s, and there was a real spirit of NASCAR that seemed to die when they put the giant rear wing and the splitter on the cars. At the time, a lot of us fans were convinced that a major part of the drop off in ratings was because of the COT. The fans and the drivers hated it. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, go back and watch some races from 1995-2004. Those were real racecars, hand built and they were things of beauty. The COT was horrendous from an aesthetic point of view, and for some reason racing series don’t seem to understand that racing is a visual sport; how the cars look matters. Anyway, if I could jam all the safety improvements from the COT into a Gen 4, that’d be like a dream.
COT era was really one of the goat eras, & 2 car tandem draft will forever be the most exciting form of restrictor plate racing. Only thing that brought it down was Jimmie winning all the chips despite clearly not being the most dominant driver. Wish they just hsd a full season points format & it woulda been perfect
I consider myself a COT kid. While I have memories of Gen 4 races, 2008 is the first year i distinctly remember. I was deeply invested during this time period, and my memories of drivers come at this time. When I think of Dale Jr, i think of the blue/green and white 88 car, not the red 8. I have a fondness of this car, even though it was far from perfect. This is *my* NASCAR childhood
Watching nascar since 1998, I grew up with the Gen 4 car. However when the CoT and Toyota came along I didn’t really flip my lid or have a strong opinion about the car, as some biased fans I knew back then were prone to such thinking. I do agree the cars raced like dirt from 07-2010. After 2011, had they stuck to that design until 2022, it wouldn’t of been that bad. Of course I had my opinion of the Gen 6 car, which was what others called the Winged CoT, a box that can’t drive well.
It was an meh Era for me as I didn't like the fact that the only way to tell the cars apart was the numbers. The other part I hated was the fact that all the top teams and teams that made occasional starts never showed up anymore and when the plate races came up, the start n park teams never made an attempt to run no more than 5 laps and not try to compete like they used to. The COT Era also introduced the stupid ass damage clock and teams only had a certain amount of time to repair the car or truck before being told to say fuck it, we are done. Nascar doesn't want us to attempt to repair and try to run laps at minimum speed. That to me is dam stupid and another reason I hate the COT Era as it introduced the damage clock and no more making lengthy repairs and if you get involved in a wreck, that is tough shit for you ad we will not allow anyone to go to the garage and repair anything and if you place dead last in the field, that's tough shit for you and if you lose sponsorship and your ride, who cares. That is why I fucking hated it and still hate the damage clock and you don't get the excitement of seeing people blow motors in endurance races like Charlotte. Blown tires and motors in regular races. The playoff style really turned me off when you can no longer run for the championship in the chase format of 2000 point range and stage racing is a fucking joke. Stage racing is not racing 🤬
I think the biggest change was the was the start of big sponsorship dollars starting to leave. Alot of reasons why that happened, economy, bad car/racing which lead to less eye balls watching and attending, and other reasons. But when money left the teams, that changed everything.
What are your thoughts on the COT era? Favorite races?
late spoiler cot has crazzzyyy racing on rcs and intermediates
I did not really mind it, I prefer the 2011 and 2012 look
@JGR4LIFEAgreed, I grew up watching the COT and rewatched the few COT races on NASCAR classics and liked the racing I saw, is it just me or was the COT really good.
Cot car was shit it was ugly as hell
My favorite race of the COT era was 2011 at Atlanta.
I find it really weird and funny that the COT was used in the same time span as iCarly
Yo that is true!
Both of yall are weird….. like how Mike & Mike had a morning show on ESPN when fans do something way toooo dumb. We need a banning., 48 hours neither of yall can watch new content from Jared
@@darrelladams4188 I'm sorry, who are you?
It was a good time to be a kid. I watched many hours of both.
Big time rush too
I know the cars controversial, but being born in ‘05, this was the car that was my intro to NASCAR,the Jeff Gordon flame car was a integral part of my childhood with that pretty blue and red and big ass wing, so this car will always hold a special place in my heart
‘01 kid, feel the same way
I found nascar by channel surfing in 2007 and the first thing that caught my eye was that blue car with red flames, a yellow number, and a fat wing
Definitely threw me off when the next week there was no wing 😂
I was born in 06 and didn't get into nascar till I think 2013 or 14 so missed the cot era, but honestly I actually prefer the gen 4 cars
Me with Jimmie and also jeff
I was 07, 2012 Jeff Gordon Pepsi Max car was amazing for me! My first die cast! I still have it on my desk!
As a 97 kid, I had a Dale Earnhardt car seat. 😅 I don’t think we’ll see marketing like that again.
Those early years of the COT were great. The #48 team making history, Red Bull’s rise, Kyle Busch’s breakout, Keselowski’s first win and the return of Mark Martin. A pretty good era.
The crazy thing about the first part of The COT era was they kinda make the car look like S2000 Touring Cars, especially with front splitter and rear wing.
I think that this is a byproduct of changing cars, more than the COT.
Just my opinion, but I also love this period for the same reasons as you.
If the current NASCAR generation had 900 horsepower, we can have another 2011 season
I'd settle for 850, like a TA1 car has.
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 I thought they were 700hp?
@@redknightsr69 The website claims 850, for what it's worth.
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 The website is full of shit then. Cause when the NXTGEN started it was 550, and the Charlotte test at the end of 2021 is when they finally changed it 670 after all the drivers were spinning out constantly on solo runs. Crazy what happens when you add power to a car that produces 80% of its downforce from the floor it actually sticks to the race track.
@@xxtherevlukexx The Trans Am website says TA1 cars make 850 hp, how does what you've said contradict that?
Am I the only one who finds it severely underrated? I personally love this era just probably because a lot of the moments that came out of this era like Tony winning the championship in 2011, or the moments with Jimmie and Jeff. Or maybe it’s because of the models, yes I actually like them, despite winged spoilers NOT fitting NASCAR very well, I actually think the models looked pretty good especially more with the 2010-2012 spoilers. And one big reason I like them is because I miss Dodge, the COT era was the last time Dodge was in NASCAR. I will admit 2007-2008 was a pretty bad start for the era, but it got better and I might have bad taste, but I don’t hate it, I can’t bring myself to hate it. I Love the COT Era, change my mind
Same
The COT with the spoiler instead of the wing is one of the best looking cars in my opinion. Always thought it visually represented what a NASCAR stock car was, a car with tons of horsepower, little grip, and the aerodynamic properties of a brick.
And they had 900 plus horse power no IRS
I like the test car versions of it that weren't trying to be a Fusion or Camry. The base shape of the car really did look like someone heard about aerodynamics from a friend and then attached those concepts to a long brick.
End of COT without the wing and spoiler arms were good cars.
It raced really well in my opinion.
Typical NASCAR. Finally figures everything out with a car design, dumps it a year later and makes things worse.
I grew up in the COT era (being born in '04). My first race being the 2010 Emory Healthcare 500. This era will always have a special place in my heart for introducing me to the sport. Putting all of that aside, I can still understand and recognize it's many flaws.
Also born in 2004 and the reason I got into NASCAR was the COT cars that were present in Gran Turismo 5.
The COT era is when I first started getting into Nascar, with Truex being my favorite driver in the 1. A very nostalgic car and I have a lot of respect for it.
The Truex #1 Bass Pro COT looked cool as hell.
The COT will always be remembered for the beginning of the decline from relevance. I remember tuning into the “game day esk” pre race show on speed in 2007 and seeing fans holding
“COT SUCKS” signs. That was the first time I’d seen anything negative about any of the cars, and it was all downhill from there…
"Car Or Truck"
The a7x in the background is a nice touch for the era
The COT era produces the Amp Energy 88 and for that we are thankful
I gotta admit, I checked out when they brought in the giant spoilers. I thought they looked stupid and were trying to attract the Fast and Furious crowd so I quit watching for a good amount of years. I only started again after 2020 when it was the only sport on during the pandemic and looking back I missed some pretty decent seasons from that time.
I hated the COT era after the great years of the gen 4, preferably early gen 4 but the twisted cars were something. The wing was stupid, the lack of brand identity and the tandem drafting were just not fun to watch. I only like the improved safety the car brought. Gen 6 was an improvement for me as I like that the cars were identifiable again. What hurt the gen 6 was the low hp motors at the end. I still don’t look back fondly at the COT era.
Add the Johnson dominance in too, that was unbearable to watch in real-time
@@PaperBanjo64 yeah I didnt care for that either being a Dale Jr fan, the whole mess when he left DEI also hurt the COT car in my eyes.
Honestly, I liked the COT car with the wing on it. I was in my early 20's at that time and liked that car and how it looked. Really wish IRacing would find and scan one of the winged COT cars to have in sim.
I grew up with the COT, Speed channel had great coverage in south america making it way more exciting, thank you Tony Rivera for amazing play by play commentary, I was also a Montoya fan because he was the only south american, had to root for him, it's a shame he never got that oval win, still pissed at that Indy race.. The race was really fun, all the battles and drama felt fantastic, I loved the look of the car but I understand older fans dislike for it. Sadly south american coverage started getting inconsistent after Speed channel died, sometimes we would have no broadcast, so it got harder to follow and then my interest dropped, it's a shame. Nowadays, coverage is at the worst state so following NASCAR is just really hard from here
No oval wins but he did manage to hit the jet drier.
The COT Era & The Entire iCarly Series (Excluding The Reboot) were in sync from 2007-2012
The COT era is where I started to drop off. I didn't even know they switched to spoilers, which led to a moment that's hilarious to me in retrospect when I tuned into the 2017 Daytona 500 and said "Oh, they went back to using spoilers". Yeah, like 6 years ago, dude! 😆
its when I pretty much went bye as well. between that and the gimmick playoff thing ruined it to be. cars I remember fondly was the late 80s cars cause they actually looked like the cars you would see on the streets even true into the 90s but man those 80s car was special to me.
Yes and the Winston Cup point system was the best.
I remember going to Talladega in the late 80's and seeing Rusty's 27 car being worked on. Clearly remember seeing where they cut the stock body to remove unnecessary metal from under the deck lid.
@Dratchev241 I have stopped watching nascar for the past couple of years because of the playoffs
To me 2011 and 2012 are some of the greatest nascar seasons in the 21sr century. For once the format actually did make the racing WAY more exciting especially in 2011. Watching the points battle week after week must’ve been incredible, seeing Tony Stewart slowly nudge his way into first place with win after win after win was historic.
NASCAR had its darkest era with JJ’s reign of terror. The popularity drop from 2006-2010 was brutal and nascar still has not recovered. But the wildcard chase format really did do wonders for the sport in those two years.
I think the Next Gen will be another great era if they can fix the car and the format over time like they did with the COT
The COT and COT 1.5 era was mid at best, horrendous at most. All the NexGen needs to work on is short tracks and horsepower
I hated Jimmie Johnson winning even an early season race because I just knew he was going to win nonstop once he started winning and wouldn't stop, and it was brutal to get through, by 2008 I was sick of him and 2009 I'd rather anyone even Kyle Busch over Jimmie Johnson...that championship run really hurt NASCAR and he's the reason we have the current playoffs system to prevent someone from ever winning another 5 in a row.
Funny thing, The wing car was Kevins kryptonite. His last win prior was the Gen4 car (2007 daytona 500) and his next win was the COT spoiler, (not wing) in 2010 Talladega.
In a lot of ways I miss the COT compared to the Gen6 and 7 cars. 2011 and 2012 COT was the best of the era
I was one of those 5 year old kids who really only watched the M&M car in '08. I've watched some of the race recently and I totally agree with you. I wish I could remember watching this era but I just remember getting excited the M&M car was doing burnouts after a win and wrecking other cars on track. 😂😂
Hearing “a little piece of heaven” in the video struck me so oddly… I love it
So true I was so confused
I actually LOVED the Car Of Tomorrow as a kid!
I still love it. I liked the wing but I know I’m in the minority on that.
Me too
Well that's lame.
@@thighhigh423 Consider yourself part of a somewhat bigger minority.
I actually liked (still do, actually) the wing, and I watched my fair share of Gen 4 racing as a youth.
Gotta say in terms of looks the wang COT has to be my 2nd favorite in NASCAR right behind the 2005-2007 gen 4s
I was a child during the COT era, and i remember it with Rose Tinted Glasses. I remember Tony Stewart going from the Home Depot 20 to the Office Depot 14 and winning the 2011 season. I remember that season the most
Take me back to 2011-2012… two of the best years of my NASCAR fandom. Been a fan since I was born in 1997. Nothing will ever compare to 2011-2012
IanPerez2000 would like to have a word with you.
Too bad NASCAR can't bring back the COT so racing can be good again everywhere. Granted the Next-gen is still improving, but not still not back to how the Cup series was
As an Indycar fan in addition to NASCAR, the COT era in NASCAR is very similar to the start of the single chassis era with Dallara in 2012 in terms of a major change affecting the sport. I grew up in the era of the mid to late 90's in which you had Lola, Ranyard, G-Force & Dallara (among others) make the chassis & Oldsmobile, Infiniti, Cosworth, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Chevy & even Mercedes make engines in both CART & the IRL. For all of its problems "The Split" was the driving force behind this level of involvement & innovation from manufacturers & the racing it produced in both series was excellent. When Indycar introduced the DW12, I was mad because the cars looked more like a fantasy car that Hot Wheels would make than an actual Indycar. This era also largely meant the end of ovals in Indycar (apart from the Indy 500) in favor of terrible street circuits & ESPN's growing disinterest to the point that NBC would take over full time with Indycar from 2019 onwards including the Indy 500. However unlike NASCAR, Indycar is still largely in this era & it is hurting the long term health of the series because nothing has changed when it comes to the chassis & the engine manufacturers are still Chevy & Honda.
It’s ironic that the same people who complained Toyota came into NASCAR then are the same who put American flags all over their Tundras now.
I think that just comes with having better access to information now. Tundras are actually domestically produced in San Antonio, Texas.
who the fuck puts american flags on their tundras???????????????????????????????????????//
The COT was a HUGE reason why Dale Jr didn't win more. For whatever reason he did not find the stability he needed with that car.
Yeah and most of his 30s were wasted driving COT shit boxes, and by the time he got his mojo back he ends up getting hurt and retires.
@@PaperBanjo64 Sad but true.
So, for an idea of the initial COT car, Jared mentioned that the main difference was the decals... This was especially called out by EA Sports, who in one of the last years of their contract, they scanned a COT and put it in the game... With NO manufacturer decals or anything... This didn't help the distain with the fans at the time, either
Also... Was that Avenged Sevenfold playing in the background???
I was in high school throughout the COT era, alot of fond memories watching it then. I think Jeff Gordon's 09' Dupont scheme is the best
Tbh my view on COT era is totally different because that was the time I got into NASCAR and got so fascinated by it. For example I never understood criticism of these cars - yeah, maybe they didn't look like typical racecars but to me they were quintessential NASCAR cars. Big, blocky, heavy-looking - something NASCAR was all about for me as it was very unique, its own animal and also that's why it was so fascinating and exciting. And yeah, all these drivers, like Jimmie's domination in #48 Lowe's, young and fast but unreliable Kyle Busch in #18, old Mark Martin killing it in #5 and so on and so forth. It all had this massive mojo for me and that's why I look at it with huge nostalgia
Completely unrelated, but I feel like the pacing of this video could be a solid foundation for you (perhaps with a little help from your NWP compadres) to put together "The Entire History Of NASCAR, I Guess"
Related to the video, I had stopped watching NASCAR after the 2007 season after I moved from NC to outside the DC area simply because the kids in my new school didn't watch even when it was good & I didn't pick back up watching until 2011, so I think I timed it perfectly as I missed out on the worst part of the COT era.
The wingless 2010 COT are cool as hell to me.
yeah i liked them when they ditched the wing, I didn't mind the splitter
Overall the COT era was better than people give it credit for. Car was ugly yes but the racing was pretty good as a whole. A few that come to mind are the 2010 Aaron’s 499 and the 2009 all star race which was the last good all star race at CMS. And the 2011 Ford 400
Dale Jr. actually had 4 wins in the COT era when you include his 2008 Budweiser Shootout and 2008 Gatorade Duel wins.
You also failed to mention how the Xfinity Series adopted their own COT version in 2010 and have used it since. The 2011-2012 Cup Series COTs were actually inspired by the Xfinity Series COT that was introduced in 2010. That is some pretty crucial info you left out.
I was in college 2007-2011, so the COT era is linked to that. I remember spending weekends watching NASCAR all weekend; practice, qualifying, and races for Trucks, Nationwide, and Cup. Made a few new friends who were also NASCAR fans that I could to talk to and watch races with.
I maintain that if the COT looked like the 2011-2012 version from the start, people would’ve hated it a lot less.
Yeah for sure. Or at least have that car for the entirety of the 2008 season.
I didn’t realize that the wing COT lasted as long as it did. In my mind it only lasted a season before they went to the spoiler, so my mind is a little blown. But I started watching NASCAR in the early 90s, so the COT era was far from my favorite. But I was also a Dale Sr. fan, and his death was still fairly recent and I was still having a hard time being into NASCAR during that time. At least to me, it was a forgettable era.
This era is over a decade old???? I am getting old. That's so crazy to think about. Nascar legends are all gone now. I'm 2 years from 30... Man... Time flies
I honestly liked the wing on the car but if the front end looked like 2011 overall would have looked better. Also Gordon's wreck at Vegas is one that I point to that lost him valuable wins during that era because he never seemed quite the same after it til he broke out again in the Gen 6 era before retiring. It also seemed to be the era that Gordon seemed to have a knack for wrecking into the part of a track that didn't have a safer barrier.
When I was watching that era as a kid I wasn’t thinking about the racing product, I just thought the wing looked cool 😂
funny, the first time i saw the COT design and that rear wing, i immediately said "anyone in that car who winds up backwards at speed is going seriously airborne." turns out i was right. they went back to spoilers i think not too long after the second guy caught air if i recall correctly. Edwards, and i don't recall the other one.
The COT era was where I first watched a full Nascar race for the first time. Although in the winged COT with the weird front, it was a race that I consider good, the 2008 Sharpie 500 in Bristol. It had a classic short track finish. The last sellout of the famous 55 sellout streak at the track.
I started following it up close the season after.
It was a time of many extreme changes as you said it, the majority of the people were just not ready to.
All things considered, I don't consider it really bad. As you said it, the 2011 and 12 seasons were very good to watch.
But the turmoil was excessive, probably more changes in 5 years regarding the details of the sport than in the 50 years prior. And this even reflected in the end.
When they got must of the issues solved, the overall quality of the races better and fans were getting used to the COT and starting to feel better about the car, Nascar started from scratch again.
It defined Nascar fandom overall, a very thin level of patience.
Being from the UK and only really watching Nascar recently, the COT era does still resonate with me. Even though I didnt watch Nascar apart from snippets on Mobil 1: The Grid (a tv show that did weekly recaps and highlights of different series), I got a Jimmie Johnson COT Scalextric car (this was in 2009 as the car still had the rear wing) for Christmas and had so much fun with it and still have it.
Biggest thing I remember most about COT the dicast cars. Me and my family had at least 6 with the wings were cirp that after opening the box for the first time.
was born in 2000, started watching nascar in 2005. honestly might not have been as big a fan of nascar as I am now without the cot era
Same age as me, except I loved Tony Stewart’s 20 and played the EA NASCAR games from 2005-2008, just getting out of it before the COT was introduced to video games. Then I came back in the pandemic when I was much older and I’m a full blown fan
Those 5 seasons with the COT felt like 50. I loved Gen6, but the Next Gen Car is giving me PTSD of 2007-2012.
NASCAR absolutely nailed the COT in 2011-2012. It easily had some of the best racing since the Gen-4 car, and I'm really disappointed they ditched it so soon after they got it right.
I think it was Tony Stewart who said, "They spent 5 years perfecting this car and then just dumped it," or something to that affect. I could be wrong.
That redesign could have gone another 3-4 seasons.
So I was in high school through out this era and I remember distinctly how different they looked because of those rear wings and front splitter. Also this era was featured in Transformers 3 as the 3 Autobots in the Chicago scene. #42 Target Chevrolet driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, #88 Amp Energy Chevrolet driven Junior, and the all mighty Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet
The COT stunk. Glad NASCAR had enough sense to make changes. I just hope they eventually do the same with the IROC tank they run now.
Dude, you explained the COT perfectly! As much as people love to complain about the looks of the Next-gen car, the COT was WAY worse in terms of looks, and, at intermediate tracks, racing! In fact, is was so bad at the beginning of the COT era, Fox started resorting to gimicks like the "Digger Cam", and ultimately, the cartoon that played at the beginning of their broadcasts in an attempt to keep viewers engaged! I would also mention TNT and ESPN, but you pretty much said everything that needed to be said there! Bottom line is the "show" these cars were putting at alot of the tracks on was not helping situation! In reality, NASCAR's transformation into a "spec" series and the nosedive in the quality of the broadcasts of the races really started with the first 2 1/2 years of the COT! The only thing that really saved this era was going back to the rear spoiler and the changes to the nose section, which not only helped the look of the car, but actually improved the racing. Had NASCAR stuck with the status-quo with the wing and the splitter and brackets, this would have been NASCAR's worst era ever, even worse than the current car!
I thought they looked badass 😂
I got to see a couple races with Gen 4 cars in person and then switched to COT and I was only like 11 or 12 at the time so I found the cars to be cool. Had pretty great racing through all the iterations of it also in my eyes and seeing what was on TV. I do miss these years od NASCAR though
love the use of Little piece of heaven as background music!
I grew up in the cot area and I’m not gonna lie I always loved them, not as much as classic stock cars but still I really did love them, I had so many dale earnhardt diecast from the cot area
I've watched NASCAR from 2003 to now and I've seen the Gen 4 cot Gen 6 and now the Next-Gen car era and I'm still enjoying NASCAR
The later COT era was good. But when it first came out with the wing, it was ugly. The first iteration of the COT from 2007-2009 racing wise wasn’t great. The later COT produced some of the best racing from 2010 onward. And the safety advancements they made were definitely for the better.
Yep people keep saying how great 2007 and 2009 where when it really wasn't that good.
It’s really weird seeing that Bud 8 car as a COT because it was a half year only car
Even a COT hater like me loves the Bud car as a COT.
Did you just use a symphonic version of Avenged Sevenfold as your background music? Pretty interesting.
i was born in 08 so i didn’t really get to watch most of this. i’m a big fan of drifting and especially the track “sekia hills” in kyushu. one of the most popular bodykits was the URAS Type GT bodykit. the CoT oddly reminds me of that car and personally i think the CoT is the best looking nascar of all time. also jeff gordon’s flame paint job was perfection. so was jimmy johnson’s car and so was JRs. hendrick was doing something right.
Looking back at it, I wish the COT was around for longer, in its final form. It was a car that worked, and we had it good.
Great video and thanks for reminding me about the progression of this car. I had forgotten about the COT era in a weird way. Probably because I went active duty in 2011 and just couldn't watch anymore until 2020. ALSO. I didn't notice it until like 9 minutes in and heard the strings from "Afterlife" but the background music is amazing.
I would say the worst race in the COT era was definitely the 2008 Brickyard 400.
Critical acclaim avenged sevenfold classic rendition. As a mega a7x fan I heard the rhythm and my head snapped into full attention on my second monitor
The Gen 6 was just an upgraded CoT with different bodies
Yep nascar knew ppl hated the COT and just put different clothes on it to try to sell it and it really didn’t work
Yup, it would not be til last year that a COMPLETE OVERHAUL of the car would be in order. Heck, I don't even call it Gen 6. It's just COT 1.5
@@S.K.R.E.Inc. Ironically, that's what a lot of car companies do when they introduce a new generation of a car. They adopt a brand new body but just make small tweaks to the platform underneath.
I think a lot of what you said about stagnant racing is true from this era. The Car of the Turning problem as I like to call it, definitely made exciting tracks such as my season ticket track, Texas; very boring. I remember passing out for 50 laps one year lol
Is that late COT what the current Xfinity car is based on? From the side it looks super similar
Yes, Xfinity cars are technically the 2011 Car Of Tomorrow.
2004 kid here, the COT was that main car that I thought of was a NASCAR, of course that wasn't righted until gen 6 and good replays of gen 4 races were brought to DVD or TH-cam
The COT impala looked pretty darn cool. The reason I own a a 2006 impala
As a longtime Dale Jr fan, I don't look back on the COT era with much fondness haha
Weird era awesome looking paint schemes and cars and some awesome moments
Baring road and shorts tracks i love gen 7. But gen 6 really had me missing gen 5. Gems 3 and 4 are still my favorite though
Fun fact the cot was the same car as the gen 6 with a different body
COT should have been more like the Gen 6, it would have been so much better received if they had skipped COT entirely and just jumped straight to Gen 6 and said they were bringing back stock cars fans would have loved it.
I was entering my mid teens when the cot came out and the look just turned me off of nascar for a long time.
I still don't think any of the cars look as good as Gen 4, cot, Gen 5-6 all just look odd to me.
I wish nascar had tried to make the Gen 4 safer or kept the look moving forward.
There was so much change during this time, if there had been one semi constant I don't think it would have fallen off as much
Please do the top 10 worst races in the COT era?
There was a lot of really bad races, just any random 10 Jimmie Johnson wins would do.
Joerut000000 has done a deep dive on every race in this era (actually every race from '05-2019, with more on the way). According to his rankings, the 10 worst COT races are:
2008 Indianapolis (15/100)
2008 Spring Dover (26/100)
2009 Indianapolis (29/100)
2011 Fall Charlotte (31/100)
2008 Southern 500 (35/100)
2012 Auto Club (35/100)
2012 Kentucky (37/100)
2008 Spring Richmond (37/100)
2007 Fall Loudon (38/100)
2012 August Pocono (39/100)
For what it's worth, the Gen 6 era had 26 races ranked lower than the 10th lowest on this list, though the '08 Brickyard has the single lowest rating.
After they debuted the COT I took a break from watching NASCAR religiously, I did not like what they did to the car. I was also tired of Jimmie Johnson wining every damn year. I started to come back after they got rid of the COT and now I'm back watching every week.
I first started watching NASCAR in the 2011 season. Probably the best season I’ve ever seen firsthand.
Great season to start watching nascar.
Unironically my favorite looking car NASCAR has raced. I would have to say that Gen-4 is my second favorite.
Unpopular opinion perhaps but I love the look of the cot. Them rear wings although dangerous in fairness are way Better than the ones now.
If the COT era started in 2011, NASCAR would have not fallen off the way it did. In 2011 the cars looked a lot better, the racing was better, the chase format worked, and Allen Bestwick was back to calling races on espn. If that all happened in 2007, the sport would be completely different
2007 the racing did suck. 2008 I remember the 3-way battle for the lead with the Roush cars at Dover, unbelievable racing. I went to Michigan in 2010 and it was a pretty good race, and the fall 2010 and 2011 races at Texas I went to were classics. I think the cars looked better with the molded nosepieces in 2011 and 12,
How the hell did the wing make it to the track? A 5th grade science class could of told you what was going to happen if the car spun around
This might just be me, but I kinda wish Nascar found a way to bring the rear wing back for the next gens. I know people didn’t like because of the flips, but my god it looked cool!!
Hated the COT. I grew up in the 90’s, and there was a real spirit of NASCAR that seemed to die when they put the giant rear wing and the splitter on the cars. At the time, a lot of us fans were convinced that a major part of the drop off in ratings was because of the COT. The fans and the drivers hated it. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, go back and watch some races from 1995-2004. Those were real racecars, hand built and they were things of beauty. The COT was horrendous from an aesthetic point of view, and for some reason racing series don’t seem to understand that racing is a visual sport; how the cars look matters.
Anyway, if I could jam all the safety improvements from the COT into a Gen 4, that’d be like a dream.
COT era was really one of the goat eras, & 2 car tandem draft will forever be the most exciting form of restrictor plate racing.
Only thing that brought it down was Jimmie winning all the chips despite clearly not being the most dominant driver. Wish they just hsd a full season points format & it woulda been perfect
i remember tony stewart complaining about the tires
I would rather have the COT then what we have now because of the horsepower packages and the changes that happened during the season
Sometimes I wonder how the Gen 6 or Next Gen car would look like with a cot wing instead of a spoiler.
The Next Gen cars version was better than Car of Tomorrow version
I consider myself a COT kid. While I have memories of Gen 4 races, 2008 is the first year i distinctly remember. I was deeply invested during this time period, and my memories of drivers come at this time. When I think of Dale Jr, i think of the blue/green and white 88 car, not the red 8. I have a fondness of this car, even though it was far from perfect. This is *my* NASCAR childhood
Only good thing about the COT was the Safety. The 2011-2012 Dodge Charger was the best looking COT.
Watching nascar since 1998, I grew up with the Gen 4 car.
However when the CoT and Toyota came along I didn’t really flip my lid or have a strong opinion about the car, as some biased fans I knew back then were prone to such thinking.
I do agree the cars raced like dirt from 07-2010. After 2011, had they stuck to that design until 2022, it wouldn’t of been that bad.
Of course I had my opinion of the Gen 6 car, which was what others called the Winged CoT, a box that can’t drive well.
It was an meh Era for me as I didn't like the fact that the only way to tell the cars apart was the numbers. The other part I hated was the fact that all the top teams and teams that made occasional starts never showed up anymore and when the plate races came up, the start n park teams never made an attempt to run no more than 5 laps and not try to compete like they used to. The COT Era also introduced the stupid ass damage clock and teams only had a certain amount of time to repair the car or truck before being told to say fuck it, we are done. Nascar doesn't want us to attempt to repair and try to run laps at minimum speed. That to me is dam stupid and another reason I hate the COT Era as it introduced the damage clock and no more making lengthy repairs and if you get involved in a wreck, that is tough shit for you ad we will not allow anyone to go to the garage and repair anything and if you place dead last in the field, that's tough shit for you and if you lose sponsorship and your ride, who cares.
That is why I fucking hated it and still hate the damage clock and you don't get the excitement of seeing people blow motors in endurance races like Charlotte. Blown tires and motors in regular races. The playoff style really turned me off when you can no longer run for the championship in the chase format of 2000 point range and stage racing is a fucking joke. Stage racing is not racing 🤬
Nobody talks about how dangerous the original rear spoiler really was.
I liked the 2011 to 2012 cars and points systems and think they should go back to it and replace the next gen cars with them
I think the biggest change was the was the start of big sponsorship dollars starting to leave. Alot of reasons why that happened, economy, bad car/racing which lead to less eye balls watching and attending, and other reasons. But when money left the teams, that changed everything.
The fact NASCAR fans haaaaaaated Toyota is still peak American lunacy
The COT reminded me a lot of the trucks