After the weekend in Bristol, it has become apparent that NASCAR’s Next Gen car still needs much work. The number of passes made with it was incredibly low, and just four lead changes were recorded.
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With Kyle Larson leading 411 of 500 laps, fans called the race dull, among many things. This has urged Denny Hamlin to speak up against the promotion’s inaction.
In a recent episode of his podcast Actions Detrimental, he spoke about the governing body’s lack of initiative towards improving the Next Gen car. As a veteran, he is a part of many NASCAR meetings, and he has clarified that the officials are nowhere close to addressing the real issues with it.
He went on to explain what he thought was one of the real issues and said, “The platform in which we run it on — where the back is squashed down to the ground and the front’s a foot in the air.”
“Of course, it’s bad in traffic. You get a front end that’s not on the ground. It’s in the air because we have to feed the underbody of the car. As soon as we get behind somebody, that thing just lifts right on up, and you got no front downforce.”
So, who has it right? The Xfinity Series. Hamlin lauded the car from the lower series and detailed how a driver racing in second place can manipulate the leader just by getting to his bumper and taking away their rear downforce. Whereas in the Cup Series, racing to someone’s back doesn’t disrupt their car because the downforce is made from underneath the body and not over the top.
He wants the Next Gen car’s back to be pitched up. Admittedly, this is only one of the core problems, along the likes of low horsepower and tires that don’t fall off. However, he continued to stress that the platform of the Next Gen car makes racing in traffic horrible.
Can the change proposed by Hamlin be made?
Altering the aerodynamics of the car in such a major way sounds like a cost-heavy plan. Hamlin maintained that it wouldn’t cost a lot in parts and pieces, but there would be other expenses. “What I’m saying wouldn’t cost a lot of money in parts and pieces. Would it cost the team’s money to come up with new Aero maps and all this other stuff? Absolutely. Yes, it would.”
“But the parts and pieces wouldn’t cost that much, right? It’s taking underbody downforce away from the car, having overbody downforce instead. That way, the back car can manipulate the front car, not the other way around.” Even if the changes are too expensive, it could be worthwhile splashing the cash.
Defensive racing has become a big part of the sport today, and the fans aren’t loving it. All a driver in the lead has to do is look in the mirror and drive in the same lane as the one behind him. Rest assured, there is no way he could be overtaken. According to the underlying sentiment of the fraternity, this approach needs to be nullified
