RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - NASCAR will mandate a change in the design of the Car of Tomorrow in an attempt to alleviate the heat that caused foam to melt in several cars last weekend at Martinsville, Va.

About 50 Nextel Cup series teams were at Richmond International Raceway yesterday to begin two days of testing the Car of Tomorrow on a larger track.

Nextel Cup director John Darby said in an interview that before the next COT race April 21 at Phoenix, NASCAR will require teams remove a 23-by-8-inch block of foam above where the exhaust pipes extend under the right side of the cars and surround the area with a heat shield.

The idea is to create cooling air flow in the hottest area on the car and cut down on the melting of the foam that gave Matt Kenseth trouble in the COT’s first race at Bristol and helped cut short Kevin Harvick’s race at Martinsville last weekend.

Harvick was not the only driver whose car had problems with smoke from the melting foam at Martinsville, but it was the only one of the three COT Chevrolets fielded by Richard Childress Racing to have the issue, Darby said. Teams from Hendrick Motorsports and Kenseth’s team, Roush Fenway Racing, also reported no problems this week, he said.

Some teams that haven’t had issues with heat in the car or exhaust fumes have asked if they would be forced to make the changes, Darby said, and were told the changes would be mandated for every team.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Advertisement