Head2Head: One year later

The new car has 20 races under it chassis and NASCAR is no worse for wear than ever in the 60 years of stock-car evolution.

That first race one year ago at Bristol produced the first green-white-checkered sprint to the finish at the world's fastest half-mile. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon beat-and-banged to the finish the following week at Martinsville.

Four of the closest races that didn't finish under caution in 2007 came courtesy of the new car. Only the two Daytona races were tighter. Then Ryan Newman came to Daytona this year and won the 500 by .092 of a second, proving the car could sustain excitement in the Great American Race.

Critics talk about boring races. Any race that lasts upward to four hours or longer is going to have lulls. There's not going to be 500 miles of side-by-side racing. NASCAR is more about marathons than sprints.

Want more complaints discredited? Let's take a look:

• Most of the complaints concerning the new car have been universal ... and technical, all of which puts a greater emphasis on driving talent. In other words, with all things being as equal as they have been in years, this car will separate the men from the boys.

For instance, one of the biggest complaints has been the difficulty in getting the car to turn. It is up to the driver to effectively manage those turns, and that's how it should be. I'd rather see the drivers on the track make the difference than the guys in the shop.

• NASCAR has turned into IROC, some might say. All these cars look the same. Well, they did before. Not too many are going to be able to distinguish between makes without the decal. These aren't sedans, anymore.

Back in the good 'ol days of 2005 and '06, how many cars resembling the No. 8 Chevrolet or the No. 2 Dodge or the No. 99 Ford did you see on the streets?

• The cars are slower. Well, unless you are in them it's not enough for the naked eye at the track or on TV to notice a marked difference.

Besides, they are still running at speeds most of us only dream about, unless we want to get a ticket.

Drivers may complain, because they are most affected. As fans, nothing really has changed.

Frankly, I'd rather hear drivers complaining about the car or anything else for that matter than the 1,000 obligatory "thank yous" we get every time a microphone is shoved in their faces.

Kyle Busch made history last season at Bristol when he won the first Cup race in the new car, then went to Victory Lane and declared that the car "sucked." A year later, I won't say the new car is horrible, but I can't say it is an overwhelming success either.

Before I start, I must give credit where credit is due -- the car is safer, which is the primary reason it is on the track.

But there are more negatives than positives, a year into the new car's run.

First, drivers are having problems with the aerodynamics of the new car, making it difficult to control. These guys are racing around at 190 mph, I want to know they feel comfortable behind the wheel, and right now they don't.

"They are really, really difficult to get right," Martin Truex Jr. said. "They're hard to drive even when [the setup is] close. They definitely make us earn our pay, I can tell you that."

Chad Knaus, crew chief for back-to-back champion Jimmie Johnson, said after the race in Atlanta all the complaints about tires were directed in the wrong place -- it was the lack of downforce on the new car causing the cars to slip and slide around the track.

The fact is, right now teams are still trying to figure out how the new car is going to handle on different racetracks, and that's a frightening thought. These guys can't be behind the wheel of a car forced to "guess" about handling -- and that is what the new car is doing.

The new car has also blurred the line of manufacturer's identity in the sport. Is there a difference between these cars at all? The answer is no. When Tony Stewart was asked about the difference between driving a Chevy and a Toyota, he said the only difference he could see was the engine.

Parity in the sport is a good thing, but when losing a manufacturer's identity is the cost, there is a problem.

Finally, has the new car really made racing more exciting? The only proof supporters have goes back to last season, when the car only ran on short tracks, typically dramatic racing. I wasn't on the edge of my seat for California, Vegas or Atlanta this season, styles of tracks a majority of the season is run on. In fact, Atlanta was one of the more boring races I've seen in some time.

The new car is here to stay, so complaints will start to diminish. But after one year, it's not perfect -- in fact far from it. The new car has altered NASCAR forever, let's hope it's not for the worse as so many of us fear.