{"id":33772,"date":"2021-05-05T17:15:55","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T22:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=33772"},"modified":"2021-05-09T11:47:28","modified_gmt":"2021-05-09T16:47:28","slug":"nascars-next-gen-cars-combine-unmistakable-identity-with-enhanced-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/05\/nascars-next-gen-cars-combine-unmistakable-identity-with-enhanced-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR\u2019s Next\u00a0Gen cars combine unmistakable identity with enhanced performance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASCAR unveils the seventh generation of the NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota cars during the NASCAR Next Gen Car Announcement on May 05, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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By Reid Spencer , NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–The curtain rose, the smoke billowed, and three NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen cars made a dramatic, roaring entrance onto the display floor at the unveil.<\/p>\n

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NASCAR driver Chase Elliott (L) and Eric Warren, Director of NASCAR Programs, GM speak at the unveiling of the seventh generation of the NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet during the NASCAR Next Gen Car Announcement on May 05, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The first impression was obvious. When reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott drove the Chevrolet Camaro, Joey Logano the Ford Mustang and Denny Hamlin the Toyota Camry roughly 30 yards in the Wednesday afternoon unveiling of the much-anticipated Next Gen car, the most striking aspect was how much the new race cars resembled their production counterparts\u2014and how easy it was to differentiate the new vehicles from one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a significant moment for our sport,\u201d NASCAR president Steve Phelps said during his introduction of the Next Gen cars. \u201cThis car is more relevant and includes more innovation than any car in NASCAR history. The styling of the car is clear. I mean, they look unbelievable. Just so incredible to finally be here.<\/p>\n

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NASCAR President Steve Phelps speaks at the unveiling of the seventh generation of the NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota cars during the NASCAR Next Gen Car Announcement on May 05, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe really wanted to get back to a promise that we had made to the fans, which is to put the \u2018stock\u2019 back in \u2018stock car.\u2019 That was something extremely important to us and our fans. But just as important to our fans is the racing on the race track. It’s hard to believe that the racing could be any stronger than it is last year and the first 11 races this year, but this car has features that will make it even better.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimply put, this car will make our sport healthier and stronger. It’s an exciting day for our industry and our fans, and I’m proud of all the work that went into bringing us to today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on data gleaned from simulations and from limited testing of small numbers of Next Gen vehicles, NASCAR expects the new race car to be more challenging to drive and more exciting to race. As Elliott put it, it\u2019s a clean slate for the best stock car drivers in the world.<\/p>\n

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The 2022 NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro is previewed at NASCAR R&D Center on April 22, 2021 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI’m excited about the product that we came up with and a lot of collaboration with all of our key partners at Chevrolet within the NASCAR teams to have a product that looks as good as it does and is much like the car and the Camaro you can go buy at your Chevrolet dealership, too,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cExcited about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelfishly, as a driver, I’m excited about the challenge. I think it’s going to be tough. There’s going to be things with this car I haven’t seen as a race car driver yet. Until you get on track and work through it, it’s going to be tough. I’m looking forward to all the things that come with that, trying to reinvent yourself as a driver to see what you have to do to be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The 2022 NASCAR Next Gen Ford Mustang is previewed at NASCAR R&D Center on April 22, 2021 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Fans in attendance at the unveiling were greeted with a race car that exhibits a lower roof line; a longer, sleeker hood area; a smaller, racier rear deck lid area; and more effectively protected wheels that feature a single central lug instead of the five lug studs currently in use.<\/p>\n

Hidden from view are additional features that bring the Next Gen car closer to modern production vehicles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car itself, first of all as an engineer, racer, I love everything underneath it which you can’t see today,\u201d said Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports. \u201cThe new architecture moving it forward, making it more modern\u2014the independent rear suspension, the (rack-and-pinion) steering system, the driveline, the opportunity for power train advancements as our world changes for future power trains–that’s all built into this. We’re really excited about that.<\/p>\n

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The 2022 NASCAR Next Gen Toyota Camry is previewed at NASCAR R&D Center on April 22, 2021 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing is what you can see today and what the fans will see on the track. As a racing fan, I can’t wait to see 40 of these out on track. It’s the body, what we are able to do by coming up with new proportions for it. This screams \u2018Mustang\u2019 to me, just the proportions of the car. With the low roof, the long hood, the short deck\u2014those are Mustang proportions. That jumps out immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The debut of the Next Gen car was originally slated for 2021 but was delayed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Even though the car won\u2019t race competitively until Speedweeks at Daytona in February 2022, it already has had an impact on attracting new ownership to NASCAR\u2019s premier series.<\/p>\n

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John Probst, SVP, Racing Innovation speaks during the unveiling of the seventh generation of the NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota cars during the NASCAR Next Gen Car Announcement on May 05, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think you’ve heard it from the likes of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin with 23XI Racing,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cWe’ve heard it from Trackhouse Racing from Justin Marks and Pitbull, and from Live Fast Racing with Matt Tifft and B.J. McLeod. There’s an eagerness for ownership to come to this sport. I think this car and the importance of this car, what it represents, is at the heart of what that would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin affirmed Phelps\u2019 assertion, noting that the prospect of simultaneous development of the Next Gen car by definition fosters parity between organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an attractive time to come into the sport, obviously,\u201d said Hamlin, a who partnered with Jordan this year to field cars for Bubba Wallace. \u201cThis was a big factor in our decisions, will be part of our decisions going forward.<\/p>\n

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NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty views the seventh generation of the NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet during the NASCAR Next Gen Car Announcement on May 05, 2021 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe have a reset in technology and resources that are going to be going into this car. We’re not at a 20-to-30-year disadvantage by coming into the sport. We’ll all be developing it at the same time in its early existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Next Gen car, however, is not yet a fait accompli. There\u2019s testing to be done with large numbers of cars on the track, with an eye toward analyzing the aerodynamic aspects of multiple cars racing together. There are decisions still to be made about such vital racing aspects as horsepower and spoiler size.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have tests coming up in August (that) will be the first time that we’ll look at Daytona with multiple cars on the track,\u201d said Steve O\u2019Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. \u201cAnd then as you fast-forward towards the end of the season\u2014October, I believe\u2014we’ll have both the (Charlotte) Roval and the oval with multiple cars on the track from each of the race teams. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then following that up post-Phoenix (in November), we’ll dial that in with the race teams as well, with a number of cars out on the track. Don’t have anything concrete yet for Daytona around that January time frame, but those will be what will be in place towards the end of this year, with multiple cars out there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer , NASCAR Wire Service CHARLOTTE, N.C.–The curtain rose, the smoke billowed, and three NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen cars made a dramatic, roaring entrance onto the display floor at the unveil. The first impression was obvious. When reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott drove the Chevrolet Camaro, Joey Logano the Ford Mustang […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":33785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-33772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/GettyImages-1316499392-scaled-e1620577130969.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-8MI","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33772"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33821,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33772\/revisions\/33821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}