NASCAR brass confident

The 2013 model Sprint Cup Series car has certainly garnered a lot of attention for its look.

But how certain are NASCAR officials that it will also improve the the racing fans will see on the track?

Several drivers, both during testing and this week on the Sprint NASCAR Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway, have said they expect better racing on the track with the new car.

On Tuesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, NASCAR's chairman and president agreed.

"I don't know that you ever see enough evidence until you go racing, but certainly the amount of testing that NASCAR has done with the teams to get prepared with this car and work on very specific areas to promote side‑by‑side racing at tracks other than the superspeedways in particular, has been intense," said Mike Helton, the NASCAR president.

"On the computer, in the wind tunnel, at the race shops, at the R&D Center and at the race tracks, there's never been as much effort put into a car to get it ready to go racing."

Brian France, the chairman and CEO, said it won’t be difficult to judge success.

"I think we'll measure it by lead changes, we'll measure it by how it races, we'll measure it by how the drivers feel about it – and knowing that not everybody will always love every rules package or thing that we do, that's for sure – but we'll look at it very simply," France said.

"Everything is designed to have closer competition, and we'll see. I'm quite confident that I know we're going to make improvements."

France also announced efforts are under way for a new track-drying system, which he hopes will reduce drying time up to 80 percent.

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