Insider Bluntly Trashes Raging Next-Gen Debate Amid Samantha Busch’s Fiery “Cancel” Rant

Dominant. That’s the only way to describe Kyle Larson’s performance at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver led 462 of 500 laps, a testament not just to how quick his No. 5 Chevy was, but also an indicator of NASCAR’s short track package. The Next-Gen car has faced plenty of criticism in the past, particularly on tracks that are less than 1 mile in length, with fans complaining about the lack of entertainment and overtaking opportunities in such races.

While there is an element of truth in this criticism, a NASCAR insider has bluntly shut down accusations that the Next-Gen car is ruining the sport, using statistics to prove his point. This comes after Samantha Busch took to social media to express her frustration about the race in Bristol, blaming the car’s performance for the poor race quality.

Is the Next-Gen car unfairly criticized?

Kyle Larson made history at the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race. He led all but 38 laps at Bristol’s 0.533-mile oval, the most by any Hendrick Motorsports driver ever. He was one of only four drivers to have been in the lead, tying the race with Martinsville in 2022 and Bristol’s dirt race in 2023 for having the fewest lap leaders in a Next-Gen car. Naturally, this prompted a conversation on social media, with a fan commenting, “This car is going to be the death of NA$CAR!!!” under a tweet posted by the sport’s insider Seth Eggert, who had shared the statistic.

While the fan’s concerns are understandable, the associate editor for Kickin’ the Tires couldn’t help but feel that it was somewhat of an overreaction. Responding to the fan, Eggert stated, “891 @NASCAR Cup races have had 4 or few leaders. Only 3 of which have been with the #NASCAR #NextGen car. I think the sport will be just fine long term.” Despite the Next-Gen car getting a bad reputation for its performance on short tracks and road courses, statistics prove that its predecessors weren’t too different. While nostalgia can play an important role in glorifying the past, especially regarding the beloved Generation 6 cars, the numbers show that the Next-Gen car has been unfairly criticized by NASCAR fans over the years.

Samantha Busch wasn’t too happy with how the car fared at Bristol Motor Speedway either. Taking to X to vent out her frustrations, the lifestyle blogger said, “Not just saying this bc we didn’t run well but can we all agree the only exciting part of the race was watching Owen celebrate w Kyle. Can’t remember a Bristol race being that blah in long time. Time to cancel this race car.” The situation she refers to is when Kyle Larson’s 9-year-old son Owen rushed to his father’s No. 5 Chevy after the race and was placed on the window while the Hendrick Motorsports driver drove a victory lap.

While talk about canceling the Next-Gen car may be premature, the reality is that NASCAR does need to improve its short-track package. Unlike the race at Bristol earlier this year, where cars experienced high tire falloff, making the race interesting, the same results couldn’t be achieved at the 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The sanctioning body has attempted to use a softer tire compound, different splitters, and diffusers but hasn’t found a solution yet. Will they go back to the drawing board to find an answer to their short-track problems? Given how the race at Bristol Motor Speedway played out, it seems they will need to.

Fans debate about NASCAR’s short-track woes and Next-Gen cars

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As expected, the NASCAR community had polarizing opinions about the race at Bristol Motor Speedway. While some fans blamed the Next-Gen car, others blamed Goodyear for developing a tire that didn’t have enough falloff. Some fans even shared their recommendations about how the sanctioning body could improve its short-track package. Unlike the race on the 0.533-mile oval last spring, cars found it difficult to make passes this time around, prompting one fan to pin the blame on the tire manufacturer. Writing on X, the fan said, “Perhaps tires that last 300 laps are a bigger issue than the car. Perhaps it’s time to cancel Goodyear. Or nascar as a whole.”

Over the last few months, the likes of Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have recommended that NASCAR increase the horsepower of the Next-Gen cars to make short-track racing more competitive. As things stand, the Cup Series cars have 670 bhp, while insider Toby Christie recommends ramping that up to 1000. Echoing that sentiment, a fan wrote, “Drivers say the car needs more horsepower to increase off-throttle time and not act as if they are just riding a rail. Why isn’t nascar realizing horsepower could fix a lot of their issues. Bigger tires plus less horsepower equals tonight.”

One fan suggested a more straightforward solution, urging NASCAR to use cars from its second tier for tracks such as Bristol. The fan wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Running the Xfinity cars at short tracks is the obvious solution. NASCAR could easily spin it as being a huge positive for the fans back to our roots of short-track racing. It would be a PR victory in the end. The cost to teams would be offset by needing less NG cars.”

While the Next-Gen car has struggled on short tracks and road courses, it has improved the quality of racing on intermediate tracks. Keeping that in mind, one fan controversially suggested that NASCAR move away from its roots and purely focus on longer tracks while reducing its dependency on tire manufacturer Goodyear for solutions. The fan said, “Cancel all short tracks and road courses, turn everything into a cookie-cutter mile and a half. One thing I will say is do not put racing product in Good Years hands. That’s not their job and they’re going to protect their “image”. Fix the damn car.”

NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck had run a poll on X, asking fans if Bristol was a good race. Out of the nearly 30,000 votes on the poll, 73% clicked on ‘No’, simply because of the lack of on-track drama that occurred in the 500 lap event. Responding to the tweet, one fan went on to say, “I’d like to get in on the No list 🙋‍♂️,” indicating that NASCAR needs to do much more to improve its short-track package by finding a solution for the Next-Gen car.