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When the green flag waves at the L.A. Coliseum in February 2022, NASCAR will effectively enter a new era, for better or for worse. Better, because of the Next Gen cars. And worse, also because of the Next Gen cars. The thing is, in the current rigorous testing of the new car, drivers and pit crews have the same opinion of it – it’s not working. And recently, Denny Hamlin joined in the criticisms.

Speaking on Racing Spaces, Hamlin described that if things don’t change, that is, if the state of the new car remains as it is now in testing, fans should be prepared to lower down their expectations.

“There are going to be some races where someone just fucking kicks everyone’s ass,” Hamlin said

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The new car is and will go through a lot of tests on different types of circuits. This intensive testing schedule is purely for the teams and drivers to adjust to the new car, which, to be honest, requires a lot of adjusting.

But it’s one thing adjusting and another struggling. And as of now, everyone seems to be in the latter seat of the Next Gen car.

Denny Hamlin isn’t impressed by the new car

The Joe Gibbs driver explained how the goal of pack racing cannot be achieved with the current speeds. According to him, ‘fans are going to hate that’ as he suggested that they have to figure out what they want first before setting out to achieve it.

Hamlin said unless they improve the downforce (which is a big feature of the new car), it will be the same old story of cars ‘sliding around’. What also surprises Denny Hamlin about the parts and vendors is the quality control.

“It’s amazing some of their quality control isn’t better,” he said.

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However, it was further reported that the heating issues were better in the car. So, that’s an improvement.

But to top it all off, it seems we’re all having the same thoughts about the Next Gen car and its promises as Denny Hamlin described- “We know this car is going to go around in circles come February, good, bad or indifferent.”

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It will be interesting to see how the new season pans out.

Read More: WATCH: Denny Hamlin Hints at Shock Retirement