The Next Gen car brought with it multiple new updates to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022. There are drivers who are still grappling to adjust to these changes. Kyle Busch, for instance, is seeing his form dip to levels never seen before in his career. Like him, 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick, too, has one pressing issue with the new variant.
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He spoke about it on the Stacking Pennies podcast. Reddick secured a brilliant result in the Southern 500 at the Darlington Raceway recently by finishing as the runner-up. It has put him in a sweet spot in the ongoing playoffs, and he should be able to get to the Round of 12 if all goes well at Bristol this Sunday.
Conversing about the Darlington race with Corey LaJoie and the others at the table, he revealed how the Next Gen car has erased a big strength of his. He said, “I kind of hate it, if that makes sense. I really loved the way that, you know, the amount of precision you had to have with the steel-bodied car at places like Homestead, Darlington.
“Anywhere that you would run the highline, run near the fence, because I felt like, you know, that was something I was really good at. I could run really close to the wall and not hit it.”
The previous Cup Series car was equipped with a steel body as opposed to the composite body in the Next Gen car. So, the penalty for hitting the wall was much harsher than it is now. For Reddick, who worked hard to get adept at not hitting the wall, this is a pressing disadvantage. His skill to drive with extreme precision is less of an advantage compared to the Gen 6 era.
How is the Next Gen car making life at Darlington difficult?
The key to taking the high line and not hitting the wall is having a good understanding of where the car ends. Reddick said that he had a really good awareness of where his right rear quarter panel was in the Gen 6 car. He admitted that he also used to listen to the exhaust pipes to determine just how close he was driving to the wall.
But with the Next Gen, this isn’t possible since the exhaust comes out of both sides. He continued to note how he and Kyle Larson were both simply bouncing off the wall in the final 20 laps of the Darlington race and weren’t being punished by the track in any way.
