“It’s the Best Racing We’ve Ever Had”: Steve Phelps Praises NASCAR Next Gen Car’s Overall Racing Product

The Next-Gen car has had its fair share of problems since its introduction. However, according to NASCAR President Steve Phelps, the positive aspects of the car have made racing better than ever at certain tracks, contrary to popular fan sentiment. While short track races have sometimes been underwhelming, racing on intermediate and superspeedway-style tracks has been entertaining with the new package. Phelps spoke about these aspects of the car in a recent episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast.

While discussing some of the issues faced by the car, Phelps explained how the Next-Gen car forces drivers to be aggressive on tracks more than a mile in length. Fans and insiders tend to sometimes focus more on the negative impact it has had on short-track racing since those short tracks have an important place in the culture of NASCAR.

Useless stat:

Both Richmond and Michigan saw more than 25 lead changes (26 each)

This was the first time since the Spring of 2015 that the NASCAR Cup Series saw back-to-back non-superspeedway races have more than 25 lead changes. pic.twitter.com/8JlpqXMOc7

— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) August 21, 2024

“You talk about aggressiveness on this car and when I think about that, I think about mile-and-a-half, two-mile race tracks, anything over a mile where if you were not aggressive early on, you are going to get left behind. You have to be aggressive and I think the racing that our drivers have put on is extraordinary. I think it’s the best racing we have ever had on those race tracks,” he said.

Phelps acknowledged the car’s short-track woes but believes that the seventh-gen car is gradually improving. With Goodyear also coming into the picture and helping out with various tire compounds for teams and drivers to use, there is hope for improving the quality of short-track racing in the future. NASCAR tested a couple of softer compounds earlier this week at Martinsville as well to get an idea about what kind of tires would suit that particular track best later during the postseason.

NASCAR president credits Next-Gen car for bringing street race possibility

Road course races have also been affected by the Next-Gen but Phelps believes that the Chicago City Street Race would not have been possible without it. When the event was first announced, several people had their doubts, including Kevin Harvick. Two years down the line, it has become a race everyone looks forward to and it might even become a crown jewel event in the future.

Hello there, @SUEtheTrex 🦖👋 pic.twitter.com/y5JYTT7SPp

— NASCAR Chicago Street Race (@NASCARChicago) August 15, 2024

“If we didn’t have this current car, I don’t think the street races that we have had at Chicago…it would even be possible. I think we would have a very different show than what we’ve seen over the two years that we’ve had the street races which I find interesting because the car on road courses in some cases are just…it’s too good,” he added.

The Next-Gen car has been a point of contention among fans but NASCAR has worked to improve it every year. These improvements might not be as big as some fans expect them to be but it certainly is headed in the right direction.