NASCAR’s new Next Gen car delivers on race track
(AP) — NASCAR’s underdogs will have a fighting chance in the Next Gen car, according to the development plan for the ballyhooed new model, and the racing would be much better. New car configurations would force drivers to muscle the cars like never before.
Well, four races into the new season on four entirely different circuits, NASCAR seems to have actually delivered on the promise.
Sure, the top teams have still won all the races. First it was Team Penske with back-to-back wins in the exhibition Busch Clash and Daytona 500, and then Hendrick Motorsports made consecutive trips to victory lane in California and Las Vegas.
“You’re never going to shut down the giant race teams, right?” Hendrick driver Alex Bowman said after his Sunday victory at Las Vegas.
Perhaps not. But the little guys sure are much improved: — Ross Chastain led a total of 75 laps through the first 117 races of his career. At Las Vegas, Chastain led a race-high 83 laps and finished third. TrackHouse Racing teammate Daniel Suarez flirted with his first career Cup Series win a week earlier at California before finishing fourth.
— Erik Jones showed that Richard Petty’s old No. 43 can still be competitive by qualifying second at California, leading laps and finishing third. The rebranded Petty GMS Racing team has expanded to two cars this season and Ty Dillon has been mid-pack.
— Richard Childress Racing, the first team to embrace the Next Gen concept and help NASCAR create the first prototypes, has shown dramatic improvement. Tyler Reddick has contended everywhere and Austin Dillon has a pair of runner-up finishes in four races.
— Jack Roush’s rebranded RFK Racing team with Brad Keselowski part of the ownership group went back to victory lane for the first time since 2017 when Keselowski and Chris Buescher each won a Daytona 500 qualifying race.
— Aric Almirola is the only driver to notch three top-10 finishes through the first three points races, while 25 different drivers have led at least one lap this season. Christopher Bell won his first career pole at Las Vegas, and annual title contenders Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin have plummeted in the standings; Hamlin heads to Phoenix this weekend ranked 30th in points.
The Next Gen has so far raced on the smallest circuit possible — the quarter-mile track inside Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the exhibition Clash — and one of the the largest, the 2.5-mile superspeedway at Daytona International Speedway. The race at 2-mile Auto Club Speedway was the best at the California track in years, and same can be said for Sunday’s race at 1.5-mile Las Vegas circuit.