With the entry of the Next Gen car, NASCAR has made significant advances to level the field up for every driver out there. However, NASCAR veteran Geoff Bodine feels like this has ousted the element of innovation from the sport and made it lose its luster.
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There was a time when the teams could make certain permissible tweaks in their cars that could go a long way to give them huge performance advantages during a race. But it’s not possible anymore.
Every car in NASCAR’s Cup Series lineup is identical as far as the stats and components are concerned. Hence, winning a race essentially comes down to pit strategies and aerodynamics; overkill based on speed alone is not an option.
According to Geoff Bodine, this has “ruined racing.” He said, “We always liked to be innovative. I always tried to design something better. Now, NASCAR might outlaw it, which they did a lot, but that was the fun part of racing back then. You could try to make something better. You can’t do it today.”
Back in the day, the engineers behind the garage could place a component where it should go. However, now, if the officials find even as much as a bolt out of place in the car, the team is most likely to be penalized.
On that note, the 18-time Cup Series race winner said, “They’ve taken a lot of fun out of it, but it’s big business. It’s more business than fun.”
Geoff Bodine’s iconic rivalry with Dale Earnhardt
During a Dirty Mo Media podcast from last year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up about the nature of the rivalry that these two NASCAR veterans shared. Dale Earnhardt was known for his aggressive driving style. But Bodine was nothing less.
Junior said, “Dad and Geoff Bodine to me has to be on the Mount Rushmore rivalries in NASCAR. There was true hatred on both sides. The owners were sparring in the media going back and forth at their respective drivers. The teams did not like each other.”
“Dad would lose his mind. It was I’m gonna wreck that car in front of me, I’m gonna wreck Geoff Bodine as fast, as quickly as I possibly can knowing that it’s gonna result in five lap penalties,” he added. For Dale Earnhardt, winning or losing didn’t matter when he had Geoff Bodine racing him door-to-door, it was all about wrecking each other.
