The Next-Gen car has been a contentious subject for race fans to talk about ever since its inception. The car has negatively affected short-track racing and things have only marginally gotten better in the last few years. However, when they’re not thinking about the car’s disadvantages and just rating the races, the Next-Gen has not done so badly. Eminent motorsports journalist Jeff Gluck drew the attention of the public to this fact recently on X (Twitter).
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Gluck has been doing these polls since 2016. The one for the Daytona race on Saturday saw 90.2% of voters call it a good race. That’s the second-highest number for Daytona races with last season’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 taking the top spot with 91.1%. But that’s not all. The 2024 Cup Series season already has five races which over 90% of voters have called good. That’s the second most in a season since the inception of these polls. The 2022 season holds the record with seven but this season still has the entire playoffs left.
And that isn’t all either. In the nine years Gluck has been conducting these polls, only 33 races have crossed the 90% mark. 15 of these came in the Next-Gen era. For a car that has been ridiculed and criticized multiple times in the last few years. The Daytona received massively positive responses from fans, barring the few who weren’t happy with the type of racing that happened on the track.
Note: Of the 33 races to top 90%+ in the nine years of this poll, almost half (15) have come in the Next Gen Era (2022-now). https://t.co/6sNM8GpqNZ
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) August 26, 2024
Perhaps the Next-Gen car’s popularity is slowly and steadily growing among race fans. This season has seen multiple exciting race finishes, including a three-wide photo finish and the Cup Series’s closest-ever finish in history. The Daytona race was just another feather in the Next-Gen’s cap. Hopefully, the next races will also be as entertaining.
Fans let go of NASCAR Next-Gen hate
Fans acknowledged the numbers and in a rare moment, a lot of them supported the Next-gen car. Yes Jeff, despite Twitter’s negativity, the racing product has generally improved the last 5-10 years. Nice to back it up with data/stats,” one user commented. “It’s a good racecar. I been saying,” quipped another.
The car has its shortcomings at short tracks and road courses but at intermediate tracks and superspeedways, it has been quite good. One fan believes that bias against the car has blinded some from seeing how good it really was. “Next-gen races great most of the time. People just aren’t ready for that conversation. I can understand it at road courses and short tracks but other than that, it’s great,” they wrote.
“I can admit I’ve been wrong about this car, what it does right it does really well. And they’ve slowly been working on the rest of the product. I’m excited to see where we are with a few more years of experience with this car,” another fan commented. It’s safe to say that the product has been doing well with fans which will be a massive positive for NASCAR going into the playoffs this season.
