The name of the game in every sport is ‘adapt’. And this is especially true in the case of motorsports, because the forms of racing that don’t adapt, become obsolete or niche. Fortunately, NASCAR has always been quick to adapt in terms of technological innovation and the format of the sport. Over the years, there have been different phases with different formats, different generations of racecars and more, the most recent of which is the playoff system and the Next Gen car. But is the current system the best of them all? Denny Hamlin recently tackled that question.
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Hamlin, who will become the oldest active driver in the Cup Series from next year on, recently shared his take on his favorite generation of racecar. It’s worth mentioning that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s answer was only limited to the racecars he’s driven.
But nonetheless, the answer was an interesting one, especially when it touched upon the Next Gen car.
Denny Hamlin names his preferred generation of racecar in NASCAR
During a recent episode of his podcast show, Hamlin was asked by a fan what his favorite generation of racecar is throughout his career in the Cup, which started back in 2005. Since then, there have been 4 different generations of the racecar in the Cup.
“That’s a tough one. I can’t list them, no,” he said. “How many generations have I driven? Might’ve been 4..5..”
“I started with 4, Generation 4 was a really good car. It wasn’t as safe as the car of tomorrow. I understand the changes, why they made the changes to the car of tomorrow. My favourite car to drive though would probably be Gen 6. I think Gen 6, it really had a lot of good things going, we didn’t know how good we had it, we talked about aero back then, now it’s way harder than pass than what it used to be,” he described.
“Now the mile and a halfs have gained, but I would argue that Gen 6 550 package on mile and a halfs was as good a racing as you’ll ever see in NASCAR. The finishing was fantastic, the restarts was fantastic. We had 750 horsepower on short tracks. You had to really wheel it on short tracks. I would definitely say that Gen 6 was really good.”
“That’s all that I really got to say about that.”
Hamlin hasn’t been a fan of the Next Gen car
Ever since the Next Gen car was unveiled at the start of last season, Hamlin has been one of its biggest critics. Two of the biggest issues the veteran seems to have with the racecar are its safety issues and the fact that it’s tough to pass now than before.
“This is the new NASCAR, where these cars, you cannot pass. You just get out front, don’t mess up on pit road, don’t mess up your strategy, and you’ll win,” Hamlin said earlier this year.
But while Hamlin’s criticisms are valid in their own place, and the action on the complaints and the feedback is taking time, and perhaps more time than it should in some cases, such as the short-track package, it’s also true that NASCAR has been working overtime to fix the issues and complaints with their new car.
