The NASCAR Xfinity Series has been a great feeder program to the Cup Series ever since its introduction in 1982. Seldom do upcoming drivers get to skip this step and land a seat in the premier stock car racing scene. But what exactly is the difference between them? Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe explained in a recent interview ahead of the weekend in Las Vegas.
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The biggest difference lies in the type of car that is used. The Cup Series uses the Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022. This vehicle holds significant advantages over the car used in the Xfinity Series in terms of speed, agility, aerodynamics, and more. From the engine to the exterior design, there are a lot of factors that set the cars apart from each other.
The Next Gen cars are more or less similar to each other. This isn’t the case in the second tier. Briscoe said, “If you’re driving for one of the top teams in the Xfinity Series, you can have a bad day on pit road or even make mistakes on the racetrack and you’re still going to be able to recover for a top-10 day, or right around there.” This is because of a significantly lower level of car parity.
What also segregates the series is the caliber of the drivers. There aren’t many drivers who are capable of winning races in the Xfinity Series.
The 29-year-old continued, “ I think that’s the one thing that stands out most about the Cup Series – it’s probably the most competitive racing series in the world when it comes to not only the number of teams that can win but the number of drivers who can win.”
The differences between the Next Gen car and the Xfinity Series car in the eyes of Shane van Gisbergen
Another driver who is capable of detailing the differences between the two series is Shane van Gisbergen. The Supercars Champion has had a spectacular rookie season in Xfinity and is poised to become a full-time Cup Series driver for Trackhouse Racing next year.
He said back in June, “The biggest thing is that the Cup car, it feels like a race car. It feels like every other car I’ve driven around the world, with the aero and the rear end (…) Even on the oval, it kind of feels like a normal car. Whereas the Xfinity car, it’s only specific to oval racing, basically.”
The likes of the current Xfinity Series car was used across NASCAR before the Next Gen era. It comes with 15-inch wheels, five lug nuts, and a four-speed manual gearbox. The Next-Gen, on the other hand, features 18-inch wheels, a single lug nut, and a five-speed sequential transmission. Hopefully, these lines will fade soon.
