COT and Talladega are not a good mix

Clint Bowyer’s humor was as black as the big Jack Daniel’s label on his car.

“There’s always kind of a recipe for disaster here,” the third-place Chase contender said of Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. “I think we’ve just kind of built a little bit better recipe.”

NASCAR’s first pairing of the Car of Tomorrow with restrictor-plate racing is the basic formula for chaos in today’s UAW-Ford 500. The COT knocks a much bigger hole in the air than traditional cars, creating horrific closing rates as one car catches another in the draft.

There are troubling variables, such as more need than ever for dangerous bump-drafting, and having to do it virtually blind. The bulky COT severely impairs driver vision here. They can’t see around just a single car directly in front of them, or even crucial hand signals from the driver just ahead.

“I hope everyone brought as many cameras as possible to witness it,” Denny Hamlin said wryly of the nearly 200,000 spectators expected. “It’ll definitely be history.”

The Chase playoff contenders are the ones with the most to lose. The points could be shuffled dramatically in the wild racing and wrecking. Hamlin, who has already dropped to 12th -- last -- is the only Chaser with little left to lose.

“I don’t have a fear for safety, just a fear of losing points,” Chase leader Jimmie Johnson said, pointing out that the primary aim of instituting the COT is safety. His goal is simply “to get out of here with a top 10” finish, he said.

“It’ll be wild,” said Jeff Gordon, second in the Chase standings. “It’s always wild here, but this is going to be a little more wild.”

And, “with the wing [on the rear deck of the COT], there’s no hand signals now,” Hamlin said, referring to more blockage of view. Hand signals are “a huge part of superspeedway racing: knowing whether the guy in front of you wants you to push him or if he already has somebody and doesn’t need a bump.”

The rapid closing rates make it not only more tempting to bump-draft -- the tactic of rear-ending one another at high speed -- but much more difficult to keep from doing it.

Michael Waltrip won the pole at 189.070 mph, followed by Dave Blaney at 188.838 in another Toyota.

Lewis Hamilton, 22, is looking to become the youngest driver to win the Formula One driving title. All he needs is a good showing today at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

But there is a 100% chance of rain today in Shanghai and a typhoon could hit the city by nighttime.

Hamilton earned the pole position Saturday with McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso finishing fourth. Hamilton has 107 points and a 12-point lead over Alonso and would clinch the title by winning or keeping at least an 11-point margin with only the Brazilian Grand Prix to go.

Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill took over the lead early in the race from pole sitter Todd Cameron and cruised to his second victory of the season, winning the King Taco Super Truck 40-lap division feature race at Irwindale Speedway.

Mintey clinched his first division championship.

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Ed Hinton covers motor racing for Tribune Co. newspapers. The Associated Press contributed to this report.