DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- Kurt Busch proved that NASCAR's "Car of Tomorrow" can be more than effective today.
Busch dominated Wednesday morning's Preseason Thunder testing session at Daytona International Speedway, clocking 191.188 miles per hour in a Penske Racing South Dodge Avenger.
The 2004 Nextel Cup Series champion, Busch became the first driver to eclipse 190 mph at the Preseason Thunder. He did so while driving the "Car of Tomorrow," a newly designed racer which will be used in 16 events this season.
"I've nicknamed it CORN, the Car Of Right Now," he said. "We've got our car of tomorrow and we've got our car of right now, so we'll be busy today."
Unveiled last January 23, the COT began in its initial design phase nearly six years ago and features several safety and performance innovations.
The driver's seat has been shifted four inches to the right, allowing more protection from a driver's-side impact. More "crush-ability" has been built into both sides of the model, guaranteeing more protection.
The exhaust system runs through the body and exits on the right side, diverting heat away from the driver.
"Safety is the No. 1 quality within this car - the way they've crash-tested it and the different foam they've inserted in this car, the different flame-resistant materials," Busch said. "All around, safety is positive with this car."
The COT also will drive better, as a reduction in dependence on aerodynamics and slight variations will result in faster speeds and easier handling through traffic.
"It's a throwback to some of the older heritage of racing stock cars," Busch said. "With the front-end geometry, it's not as aggressive as what we have these days with the regular car."
On Wednesday, Busch's lap was 1.68 seconds better than that of the next-fastest driver, Jeff Gordon, who finished at 184.596 mph in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
"I thought it was great," Busch said. "We had to make sure of fender clearances and we just went for two laps at a time, and it really shook out to be positive. ... I thought the car could handle any speed it wanted to go."
The COT first will be used in the Nextel Cup this season at the Bristol spring race on March 25. It also will see action at Phoenix, Martinsville, Richmond, Dover, New Hampshire, Darlington, the fall event at Talladega and road-course events at Infineon and Watkins Glen.
Dodge, which runs the Charger when racing current body styles, will switch to the Avenger model while Chevrolet, which normally races Monte Carlos, will shift to the Impala in COT races.
Ford will continue to race the Fusion, which made its debut last year, replacing the Taurus. Toyota, a new entry in the Nextel Cup Series, will use the Camry.
"The competition it will create, hopefully more side-by-side racing, that's what we want to see," Busch said. "We want to see these new teams that come into our sport with a chance to win and be competitive and to make 43 cars that much stronger."
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