“I Don’t Make Those Kind of Decisions”: Chase Elliott Shares Refreshed Take On “Very Unlike” Next Gen Car

The one big, consistent talking point last season in NASCAR was the Next Gen car. It began with excitement and uncertainty about something new and revolutionary. Then came the problems. Lots of them.

All of this led to drivers like Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick losing their cool and speaking out against the Next Gen car and the issues it had created.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver, in particular, had a very biting criticism of the car. And his part in the protest was surprising because he isn’t usually associated with having big media outbursts and making unfiltered comments.

But that was last year and last season. Now, the 2023 season is about to begin. A fresh start, and it seems Elliott too has a different and less emotional take on the Next Gen car.

Chase Elliott reflects on the big change that came from the Next Gen car

In a conversation on the Heidi and Frank Morning Show, Elliott was asked by a caller about his opinion on the new car, particularly on the single lug nut which replaced the five-lug nut wheels from the previous generation car.

“The car has definitely taken some getting used to and honestly, very unlike any other thing I had driven prior to last season. So it’s been definitely, for me personally, it’s taken quite a bit of a learning curve to get comfortable and get to where I feel like I need to be, and not even sure that I’m there yet,” Elliott said.

“The single lug side of things, you know I think it has its pros and cons. The problem is before you could miss a lug and you’d still have four tight, but right now you miss one and you don’t have any on,” he continued. “It’s a fine line for the pit crews to navigate.”

Having said that, Elliott added that while it was “a difficult thing” but over the course of the season, it was getting better and the teams were getting “a better understanding” of the whole situation.

“It kind of is what it is, I don’t make those kind of decisions,” he added.

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Elliott had deemed the Next Gen car a step backward for NASCAR

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Throughout the course of 2022, a lot of drivers fell prey to injuries that came from the Next Gen car. Two most notable of them were Kurt Busch, who had to cut short his career after a serious concussion injury, and Alex Bowman, who sat out a few races to recover from his concussion injury.

All of this led Elliott to call out NASCAR for the car which was putting drivers at risk of serious, career-ending injuries. “These types of incidents that result in injuries. … I’m not a doctor, but I’ve watched a lot of cars back into the wall and the guy would be fine,” Elliott said as per AP News.

Elliott insisted that no driver was immune to what was happening, that he could be the next victim of the Next Gen car too. “I just hate to see us go backwards and I’m afraid that we have,” Elliott added.

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