The brake rotor failure was a serious issue that several drivers faced during the Cup race at the World Wide Technology Raceway. The mechanical failure proved to be a headache for the drivers along with their teams. There were four drivers who fell victim to mechanical failures and were forced to retract themselves from the race.

It was Noah Gragson who had to face the worst of it. He was unable to race at Sonoma as he suffered concussion-like symptoms after his car collided with the outside wall, owing to brake rotor failure. This has raised questions regarding the safety parameters of the Next Gen cars, as NASCAR is slated to release its new modified cars, which cater to the driver safety aspect. 

It seems that the veteran drivers like Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski are in agreement with the new modifications of the cars and how NASCAR has dealt with the issues regarding transparency among the teams. They expressed their thoughts in an interview with Bob Pockrass. 

Kevin Harvick discloses how NASCAR has been transparent regarding the developmental process of the Next Gen cars

The preliminary cause of brake failure was attributed to the track conditions of the Gateway. The track of the World Wide Technology Raceway is characterized by long straightaways and low bankings, as a result of which, the drivers have to press the brakes hard going into the corners and let the brakes cool off while the cars drive on the straightways. This eventually led to the explosion in the rotors.

However, with Noah Gragson being sidelined from the race due to concussion-like symptoms, the teams have voiced their concerns about the Next Gen cars. NASCAR is slated to release its newly designed cars, which have been redesigned keeping in mind the safety of the drivers. Moreover, Kevin Harvick feels that the authorities have been transparent about the developmental process.

This transparency has been welcomed by a majority of the drivers, including Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. While speaking to the NASCAR analyst, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver shared, “I don’t think the injury stuff is obviously where we all want it to be and is still out there. Impacts are still big when you look at the rotors exploding and the same things that happened last year. Obviously that is a concern.”

Being a victim of a brake rotor failure himself, Harvick added, “I lived that last year and the concussions are gonna be a part of what we do until we keep making progress with the car, but it’s not from a lack of effort or research. Talladega [Larson’s crash] was not something that we wanted to see. But also, a little bit of a data point that we could use to recreate and make things better.

“I think when you look at the updates on the car and everything that they have done is definitely in the right direction. And it’s a temperamental process, to make sure that you don’t go over the edge but also make improvements on the car. So NASCAR has been very upfront with us and straightforward, and we saw the testing things. It’s very much keeping us aware of the process. But we are not out of the woods.”

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Brad Keselowski wants more progress on the safety front and clears the air about illegal modifications

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While speaking on the same topic, the co-owner of RFK Racing, Brad Keselowski, added, “I hope he [Noah Gragson] gets well soon. I am not sure what caused that to happen if it was just crash or what angles or any of those things that attributed to it. But it’s not something we want, we don’t want drivers missing races because of concussions.”

Talking about the progress made so far by NASCAR, he added, “Clearly, still more work to be done. And what that is I can’t say that I know right now. But hopefully, some of the changes that NASCAR has made will be implemented in the next few weeks and are stepping in the right direction, it appears so, with all the videos and pictures and so forth that we have seen. We got work to do.” 

The NASCAR authority has levied L3 charges on the Stewart-Haas Racing team after an illegally modified part was used in Chase Briscoe’s car. Talking about it, Keselowski added, “I mean it feels like they are pretty well documented what you can or cannot do with some of these modifications. We always do that the NASCAR Next Gen was gonna be, like someone said, similar to how an airplane works to some degree, but you hope to have as minimal amount of changes as possible. At the end of the day, if we are not worried about the safety, we have got to make changes and to be d*mn with everything else.”

With that being said, it seems there is still room for improvement for the governing body. There can be no denying the fact that driver safety is of the utmost importance and cannot be compromised. 

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