Elliott says NASCAR has taken step backward with Next Gen car
NASCAR’s most popular driver said Saturday the sport has taken an unacceptable step backward in safety with its new Next Gen car, a rare public offering of opinion by Chase Elliott.
NASCAR’s top drivers essentially have turned into an angry mob as they head into Sunday’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway. Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch are both sidelined with concussions, and Cody Shane Ware will race with a broken foot. All three drivers were injured in crashes in NASCAR’s new Next Gen car.
The car had a honeymoon phase when it debuted at the start of the year because it delivered on its promise to improve the racing and level the competitive playing field. And while the Next Gen faced some bugs in the first seven months, the car is now experiencing serious problems during the playoff portion of the season.
That’s created a growing sense of urgency from the drivers that NASCAR must soften the rear of the cars in the interest of safety.
Bowman and Busch were both injured when the rear of their cars hit the wall. Because the Next Gen was designed to be durable, their crashes looked routine, when in reality most of the energy from the impact was absorbed by the driver. Busch is out for an 11th consecutive race. Bowman crashed on the 98th lap last Sunday at Texas, radioed his team to say it was the hardest hit of his life, appeared unwell on his in-car camera and yet continued to drive 231 laps. He was diagnosed with his concussion on Thursday.
“These types of incidents that result in injuries . ... I’m not a doctor, but I’ve watched a lot of cars back into the wall and the guy would be fine,” Elliott, who is teammates with Bowman at Hendrick Motorsport, said Saturday before qualifying at Talladega.
“No one’s immune to it; it could be me next week. It could be any of my peers or fellow competitors. I just hate to see us go backwards and I’m afraid that we have,” Elliott added.
Elliott last week crashed when his tire failed while leading at Texas.
Although he’s been voted the most popular driver by fans the past three years, the 26-yearold son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott very rarely publicizes his opinions on controversies.
But the drivers clearly have had enough after the Next Gen was a disaster for a fourth consecutive playoff race. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have publicly called out NASCAR for not doing enough to keep the drivers safe.
FORMULA ONE
Max Verstappen looked on course for pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix when his Red Bull team aborted his lap with just seconds left in qualifying because of a fuel issue and Ferrari’s
Charles Leclerc took the pole instead.
“Why? Why? Why?” Verstappen asked when told to box, before unleashing an expletive. He soon found out why. “They told me to box and then I realized what was going to happen. We ran out of fuel,” Verstappen told broadcaster Sky. “It is incredibly frustrating and it shouldn’t happen ... At least you [should] track that throughout the session to know you aren’t going to make it. We should’ve seen that way earlier.”
Verstappen starts eighth, although he’s won from 14th on the grid this season in Belgium.
He was well clear of Leclerc at the time splits but Red Bull called him in as he was about to go under fuel limit regulations. Drivers can be disqualified if they don’t have enough fuel left in the tank, which would have meant starting from last place.
Leclerc clinched a season-leading ninth pole and finished .022 ahead of Verstappen's teammate
Sergio Perez and .054 clear of Mercedes driver
Lewis Hamilton.