Car of Tomorrow is on track at Phoenix

NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow is expected to reveal its true colors Saturday as the Nextel Cup Series arrives in the desert for its first night race of the season.

Qualifying is scheduled today on the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway.

The newly designed car initially was used in Bristol, Tenn., last month and a week later in Martinsville, Va., but both venues are half-mile tracks.

The track just west of downtown Phoenix “will give us a better idea of where we are with the Car of Tomorrow,” four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said.

“It’s a lot faster track where aerodynamics are much more of a factor,” he added.

Gordon leads the points again this year, and Jimmie Johnson, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and the reigning titleholder, is fourth.

Yet neither has won a Cup race at Phoenix International, a relatively flat, tricky, bean-shaped oval that has 11-degree banking in Turns 1 and 2, and nine-degrees in Turns 3 and 4, along with a “dogleg” backstretch.

Gordon also hasn’t won at all this year, despite his strong overall performance, which includes five top-five finishes.

In turn, Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing won the spring and fall races here in 2006, as well as this year’s season-opening Daytona 500, yet the Bakersfield native has struggled since then and is 14th in points.

The question is whether Harvick can use Phoenix International as a springboard to reignite his season. But no driver has ever won here three consecutive times.

The same question applies to Dale Earnhardt Jr. He’s also a two-time winner here, and needs another good finish after a crash at Texas Motor Speedway last week dropped him to 18th in points.

In contrast, Harvick’s teammate, Jeff Burton -- another two-time winner here -- returns to Phoenix with momentum after winning last week’s Texas race by passing Matt Kenseth on the last lap.

Every driver’s past performances might mean little Saturday, though, because of the Car of Tomorrow, which NASCAR is using in 16 of this year’s 36 races. The car will be further integrated into the schedule next year before becoming mandatory in 2009. The car, designed to be safer and foster closer racing, is somewhat boxier than the conventional cars and features a rear wing.

“Going to PIR, we’ll have a lot more speed” in the car than in Bristol and Martinsville, said J.J. Yeley, a Phoenix native and Joe Gibbs Racing driver who will start his 50th Cup race Saturday.

Mark Martin, meanwhile, will make his first appearance in the Car of Tomorrow.

Driving a limited schedule this year for Ginn Racing, the 48-year-old veteran skipped the Bristol and Martinsville races, then returned with a third-place finish in Texas last week.

He’s 11th in the points -- currently high enough to make NASCAR’s 12-driver Chase for the Cup playoff -- despite missing the two events. Martin also won here in 1993.

“I’m not sure what to think, going into my first COT race,” he said. “I was able to test the car at Bristol earlier this year and I think we have our work cut out for us.

“We were about a 15th-place car at the test, but we’ve actually raced a lot better this year than we practice, so I guess only time will tell,” he said.

Martin Truex Jr., who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., said the car “does handle differently from what we’re used to driving.”

“At the end of the day, though, the goal is still the same -- avoid trouble and put yourself into position to win at the end of the race,” Truex said.

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All of but one of the seven Toyota Camrys entered will again have to qualify on time, because they’re outside the top 35 in owners’ points. Those 35 cars are automatically qualified. The exception: Dale Jarrett of Michael Waltrip Racing is eligible to use another of his past champion’s provisional starts.

This also will be Waltrip’s first opportunity to qualify his Toyota since his single-car accident April 7 near his home in Sherrill’s Ford, N.C. He was cited for leaving the scene of an accident after his SUV hit a telephone pole.

Waltrip had hoped to make last week’s race. But qualifying was canceled because of poor weather in Fort Worth and the starting grid was based on current points. Waltrip hasn’t competed since the Daytona 500 two months ago.

james.peltz@latimes.com