John Hunter Nemechek Offers a Contrasting Take on NASCAR Listening to Christopher Bell’s Push for Lesser Downforce

NASCAR has faced a lot of criticism for the Next Gen’s short-track racing capabilities and the racing authority is trying to make things better for fans and drivers in that regard. One of the changes NASCAR has introduced is taking off the diffuser on the floor of the car to reduce downforce. While it is something that could, in theory, make cars faster, John Hunter Nemechek is skeptical of the new approach.

Earlier, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell had strongly suggested that the Next Gen cars need to be faster. While more horsepower is something every driver has called for, the #20 Camry driver has been an advocate for lower downforce as well.

John Hunter Nemechek explains the advantages of low downforce, but adds a caution

John Hunter Nemechek agrees with Christopher Bell’s remarks but only partly. Nemechek believes that taking away the diffuser from the floor of a car would improve racing. In a recent live interview on The Money Lap, the 26-year-old explained that the lack of a rear diffuser would reduce turbulent air which would make it a lot easier for chasing cars to control and pass.

Nemechek, who will drive Legacy Motor Club’s #42 Toyota in the Cup Series from 2024, acknowledged that NASCAR took cognizance of Bell’s remarks on reducing downforce. However, Nemechek also mentioned that it made a lot of sense for Bell to advocate so heavily for lower downforce given his background in dirt track racing. Dirt track races see cars slipping and sliding around all over the place so it is something the JGR man has experience with.

“I think C. Bell is probably one of the biggest advocates for taking downforce away or making them slip and slide around which makes sense from his background. So it’s definitely been interesting to hear all of the different driver’s perspectives and see what they’ve had to say so far,” Nemechek said.

The 26-year-old, who won a whopping 7 races driving Joe Gibbs Racing’s #20 Supra in the Xfinity Series, believes that there are two sides to the coin as far as lower downforce is concerned. “I definitely think that there are some things that you can point your finger at as a possibility of areas to look at or work on. But then again, the downforce side, I kind of feel like it’s a double-edged sword,” he said.

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John Hunter Nemechek went on to explain how a low downforce package could cause issues for drivers who do not have experience with cars that have low grip, unlike Christopher Bell who might not find it very challenging.

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The former Xfinity Series driver said that it may take other drivers a lot of time to build up the confidence to move around the track and make dive bomb passes into the turns if the grip is significantly less.

“You can take downforce away and make them slip and slide around. But then again, if you don’t have enough downforce to lean on and feel somewhat secure in the race car, you’re not able to ship it in the corners and try and dive bomb guys or be confident enough to move around to find different grip and to try and pass and different things of that sort,” Nemechek explained.

Do you think lower downforce will solve NASCAR’s short-track racing problem? Or will it cause even more chaos with drivers sliding around all over the place? Let us know your thoughts.

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