Car of Tomorrow yet to win many fans in NASCAR

	After three races using the Car of Tomorrow, it's clear Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick team partners have pulled away from the field in competing with the new vehicle. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
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After years of hype, the Car of Tomorrow is now officially the Car That's Three Races Old. With more than 750 miles under its belt, it's quickly losing its new car status, but not its intrigue as fans, drivers and teams alike attempt to figure out what to make of the new design.

Well, you don't need to go far to study up on what they've found out. Here's five patterns we can deduce from the Car of Tomorrow experience three races in:

1. Hendrick is clearly ahead of the curve

Richard Childress Racing may have done the most CoT testing this offseason, but when push came to shove, it's Hendrick Motorsports up front capturing the racing hardware. Not only has HMS captured all three victories in Car of Tomorrow events, their four-car team has snagged nine of a possible 30 top-10 finishes -- almost twice as much as any other organization. And that total doesn't even take into consideration the Hendrick satellite team of Haas CNC Racing, a middle-tier organization that has scored all three of its top-10 finishes this season in CoT races, snagging solid performances from drivers Jeff Green and Johnny Sauter.

What's the key to Hendrick's success? Not only do they have future Hall of Fame drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon at their disposal, they have an entire department of personnel dedicated to the CoT. While some of the smaller teams can barely afford to hire enough employees to work on both types of cars, the pure strength in numbers has Hendrick able to balance out the work and ramp up the research and development. Combine that with some of the most innovative crew chiefs in the business experienced in getting their cars dialed in for the final segment, and it's no secret why Hendrick has the cars up front when it counts the most -- the checkered flag.

2. ... But Joe Gibbs Racing isn't far behind

Of course, all the talk about Hendrick's dominance has Joe Gibbs Racing gritting its teeth. With a little bit of luck on its side, the three-car organization could have easily been No. 1 on this list. There's no question JGR has cars capable of running up front; in three CoT races, they've led an astounding 781 of a possible 1,312 laps led (59.5 percent).

Clearly, speed and handling aren't the problem here. The problem simply appears to be nothing more than good ol' fashioned bad luck. At Bristol, Tony Stewart was running in another time zone, leading 257 of the first 288 laps before a faulty fuel pump sent him to the sidelines. That handed the lead to JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, but his engine went sour as the race wound down, leaving Kyle Busch in perfect position to capture the win.

At Phoenix Saturday night, the "shoot yourself in the foot" technique happened all over again. Hamlin paced the field for 70 laps, but chalked up an untimely pit road speeding penalty that took him right out of contention. Stewart then went on to lead a race-high 132 laps, but an late caution caused him to lose crucial track position and give Gordon the lead. Falling to second for the final restart, Stewart could do nothing but watch as the No. 24 streaked to the checkered flag.