Next Gen timeline
As the Next Gen car for the 2022 Cup Series prepares for its first taste of competition next season, it’s time to look at its development in brief and size up what’s next before the new model’s debut.
January 2019: The first talks about the Next Gen project begin in earnest.
February 2019: First story on the Next Gen car, code-named “Gen-7,” comes out.
August 2019: Details seeped out regarding Goodyear’s work to bring a new tire to Next Gen.
October 2019: The first Next Gen prototype hits the track for its first ontrack shakedown, with Austin Dillon taking the wheel at Richmond Raceway. The public gets its first glimpse at the design as a busy camouflage body wrap attempts to hide some of the finer details.
December 2019: Second test (Phoenix).
January 2020: Third test (Miami).
March 2020: NASCAR officials released the first close-up look at the new wheel design, which features a single center-locking lug nut instead of a five-lug pattern.
March 2020: Fourth test (Auto Club).
April 2020: The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted the NASCAR racing season, but it also placed the development and testing schedule of the Next Gen car on hold. August 2020: Fifth test (Dover).
November 2020: Sixth test (Charlotte).
December 2020: Seventh test (Daytona).
January 2021: Eighth test (Charlotte).
February 2021: Development complete. Next Gen bodies for all three manufacturers approved.
March 2021: Ninth test (Richmond).
March 2021: 10th test (Martinsville)
April 2021: 11th test (Darlington).
June 2021: Wheel-force testing (Charlotte, Dover).
June 2021: Crash test (Talladega).
August 2021: NASCAR officials indicated that the placement of the side number on Next Gen vehicles will be moved forward for 2020, closer to the front wheel and away from the middle of the door.
January 2022: The rest of the tests.
Additional Next Gen tests are scheduled at the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway (Jan 5-6), Daytona International Speedway (Jan. 11-12) and Phoenix Raceway (Jan. 25-26) to allow teams to prep for 2022 and for officials to confirm the Next Gen superspeedway package. Atlanta, reborn with 28-degree banking new for 2022, is expected to be added to the short list of tracks using the superspeedway configuration to reduce speeds.
February 6, 2022: Clash at the Coliseum.
The Next Gen car is set to debut in its first points-paying race for the NASCAR Cup Series in the annual season-opening Daytona 500, scheduled Feb. 20 at Daytona International Speedway, but teams will get a first taste of the car in race conditions in the Clash exhibition’s debut at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The event was announced Sept. 15, a one-off to be held on a temporary quarter-mile track.