MIAMI - NASCAR is at the midpoint with the new Car of Tomorrow, which it designed to create better competition, increase safety and reduce operating costs. After eight of 16 scheduled races in the car, the reaction in the garage has been varied.
_The handling/how it has fared in competition:
Driver Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing: "As we go, the handling of the car gets better and better."
Driver Kyle Busch, Hendrick Motorsports: "These cars are all so equal, it's hard to get alongside somebody."
Driver Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing: "When they're tight and don't turn it's the easiest thing to drive, it's just boring and slow. It's hard to pass because you can't get the front ends to turn.
"The finishes have been great, it's been entertaining, but I thought the three hours I spent in the car in Loudon (N.H.) were about the most boring time I've ever had in a race car."
_The early evaluation of how teams are adapting:
Driver Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing: "For the most part it is evolving better than I thought it would. At the first race or two, I thought that we were going to have a long row to hoe to try to get to where it needs to be. It is really starting to speed up. You are starting to see the other teams starting to catch up a little bit. That is going to make, obviously, better racing."
_The impact of the car:
Former crew chief Robbie Loomis, vice president of Petty Enterprises: "It's all going to become about the driver, about the engine, that's going to make it extremely tough if you don't have that top-tier driver."
Kenseth: "It's the opposite _ 100 percent, opposite. If you can't really pass with the cars, it puts it more on getting off pit road first and track position."
_Possible improvements drivers would like before the car is run full time next season:
_Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., DEI: "I don't really know what NASCAR might change to help the car. We struggle getting the car to turn in the middle at the ovals. That is just a matter of time before we figure out what we need to do there. But otherwise, it is not too bad. Some places, it has been even easier to drive. The Car of Tomorrow is becoming less of a factor. It is more just about what kind of luck you have got."
ROOKIE WOES
Miami resident Milka Duno's rookie IndyCar season has been anything but smooth, with her latest setback having been placed on probation by the Indy Racing League after Sunday's race in Michigan. She will not compete in Saturday's race at Kentucky Speedway.
Instead, Duno will be in Berlin, filming a part in Warner Bros. upcoming movie Speed Racer, according to her Samax Motorsports team.
To continue in the IndyCar series, the league is requiring Duno test more and improve her skills running with other cars. IRL president Brian Barnhart and other league officials will keep a "very close eye on all aspects of her driving at the remaining races," spokesman John Griffin said.
In six starts she has only finished twice.
THIS AND THAT
Cup veteran Jeremy Mayfield will not return to Bill Davis Racing, after a trying first year with the Toyota team. Mayfield has gone through several crew chiefs and qualified for only eight of 21 races.
_The struggling first-year Toyota-backed Red Bull team parted ways with general manager Marty Gaunt, who oversaw competition of the two-car operation.
_To help the Gillette Evernham No. 10 driven by Scott Riggs gain ground on the top 35, former IndyCar and Champ Car driver Patrick Carpentier is slated to make his debut in Sunday's Cup race at Watkins Glen.
He will need to qualify on speed. He finished second in his NASCAR debut in the Montreal Busch race Saturday.
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