Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)

NASCAR’S Future is here: Next Gen car finally arrives

- By Jenna Fryer

NASCAR’s next generation race car is finally here after two years of hype and hope that it will revolution­ize the stock car series.

How can a spec car radically change a sport? Competitio­n. Cost containmen­t. Manufactur­er relevance.

The Next Gen car, first proposed in 2018 and originally set to debut this season until the pandemic delayed it until 2022, is a first-of-itskind collaborat­ion between NASCAR and its partners. All parties had to work toward creating a car that served the entire industry.

“We really wanted to get back to a promise that we had made to the fans, which is to put the ‘stock’ back in stock car,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. “It looks like you’ve gone to some type of outfit that’s taken a regular car and just made it look incredibly sporty. There’s a relevance to this race car that we haven’t seen, frankly, in 40, 50 years.”

The long overdue unveiling Wednesday was much like a pre-pandemic NASCAR affair. Hall of Famers Richard Petty, Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs were part of a masked audience when reigning Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin drove their respective Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang and Toyota Camry into a darkened Charlotte auditorium.

It was the first public look at the most significan­t change to the Cup cars since the present “Car of Tomorrow” model was introduced in 2007.

For the first time in NASCAR’s 73-year history, single-source manufactur­ers will build the chassis, provide parts and supply the carbon composite bodies. But each individual manufactur­er has the flexibilit­y to design the shell to at last resemble the Camaros, Mustangs and Camrys anybody can drive off the car lot.

“Chevrolet wants to have a competitiv­e car on track. But equally as much, we want to have a car that aligns itself with something somebody can go buy on a showroom floor,” Elliott said. “I think they did a really good job of marrying those two things together.”

The Next Gen also led NASCAR to modern upgrades found on today’s street cars — rack-and-pinion steering, independen­t rear suspension, bigger wheels and upgraded connectivi­ty to allow for an incar camera in every vehicle. There is also the ability to adapt as technology changes.

NASCAR has had only three manufactur­ers since Dodge left the sport after the 2012 season, and Phelps has said new carmakers would not be interested in joining until a new car was designed.

The Next Gen should make NASCAR appealing to other manufactur­ers particular­ly as hybrid technology is explored. The new car, for now, will continue to use internal combustion, pushrod V8 engines produced by each of the three manufactur­ers.

But bringing in new competitio­n was a goal for all three of the current NASCAR manufactur­ers.

“The more manufactur­ers that we can compete with on track, the better,” said David Wilson, President of Toyota Racing Developmen­t. “The entry point with the car that we’ve been racing is just too steep to entice a new manufactur­er. We do believe that with Next Gen, the relevancy to an OEM, it’s a reset that there’s a much higher likelihood we could see another OEM or two.”

The Next Gen has sparked interest in ownership, and three new teams entered the top Cup Series this year. Michael Jordan is now an owner alongside three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, Pitbull entered in partnershi­p with former driver Justin Marks, and former driver Matt Tifft has a team with current driver B.J. McLeod.

The car is expected to dramatical­ly contain costs in large part because of its single supplier chains, and teams will be limited to seven cars at a given time instead of an unlimited fleet, making ownership appealing for the first time in years.

 ?? MIKE MCCARN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? The 2022Next Gen Ford Mustang Cup car was unveiled during a NASCAR media event in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday.
MIKE MCCARN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The 2022Next Gen Ford Mustang Cup car was unveiled during a NASCAR media event in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States