The 2024 NASCAR Playoffs race at Talladega Superspeedway once again started the debate over the Next Gen Cup car’s effectiveness anywhere apart from an intermediate track. However, race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. believes the car still has some positives that can be utilized on the race track.
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One of the techniques Stenhouse used to get to the front of the pack was side drafting. It’s a popular technique in stock car racing but its effectiveness has reduced in the Next-Gen era.
Stenhouse understands the same. However. the Tennessee native debated the technique as not fully useless. After the race, several drivers and crew chiefs slammed the car for its inherent difficulty in passing at the venue.
“I think for me, there are little things that are still possible to do with this car with the side drafts, trying to figure out when to side draft and not to side draft. It’s still effective but it’s not as effective I guess and I think everybody’s cars drive almost too good so I feel like it puts everybody really comfortable,” Stenhouse said in the post-race press conference.
Regardless of what the JTG Daugherty Racing driver believes, the overwhelming consensus is that the Next Gen car is not suited for superspeedway racing.
With the advent of four-wide racing with a caveat of drivers saving fuel at a track like Talladega one of the byproducts of the new car, major changes need to be addressed to improve the seventh-generation platform. After all the issues the car has had on short tracks, this is certainly one that NASCAR must have hoped to avoid.
Cup Series stars sound off on Next Gen car’s superspeedway woes
Joey Logano slammed the racing product as he said it was impossible to pass others and move up the track in the Next Gen car at Talladega this Sunday.
“You get just stuck. You’re running four wide and it looks cool, but you’re running half-throttle. Then when you want to go and it’s time to go, everyone’s just stuck two wide,” he said after the race. The Team Penske star wrecked out and had to retire from the event before its end.
Briscoe, who finished in P30 is close to crashing out of the playoffs. He too made his thoughts clear about the Next Gen car. “I’ve never really thought this style of racing was fun, but I will say that it is infuriating truthfully. You can’t do anything. You’re just stuck,” the Stewart-Haas Racing driver said.
This was the final superspeedway race of the year and NASCAR will surely pay heed to all the negative feedback from the fraternity. One can only hope that the governance will come up with a product that delivers better racing during the Daytona 500 weekend in 2025.
