NASCAR Still Positive About Next Gen Cars Despite Crash for Austin Dillon

The Next Gen car suffered its first crash when Austin Dillon wrecked his #3 Chevrolet at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Naturally, many of the mechanics and engineers wanted to gauge how it happened. The idea was to identify points of impact and assess the damage and gather as much intel as possible. Earlier this week during the post-season tests, there were other incidents where drivers struggled on the track and paid the price. Among them was Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, who was driving the #11 Toyota.

Hamlin had a bit of an adventurous session as he spun during one of his runs. The good news was that he did not clatter any wall or break his car, but the bad news was that it did ruin his run. As per replay footage, the driver got close to the circuit apron at the corner, but his rear end stepped out. Fortunately, he kept it far away from the outside wall and spun down toward the inside of the track.

Austin Dillon was lucky to rejoin the track after repairs

Speaking about the Dillon accident NASCAR vice president John Probst said, “When the incident happened, we actually left our spot in The Speedway Club and drove over there. We talked to the first responders. They said (Dillon) was already out of the car. Then we went to see him in the infield care center. He had already been released before we could get there. So, yeah, it was a really good feeling knowing that the car performed as designed. Looking at the front bumper on it, looked like it crushed the way it was designed to do.”

Of course, once the car was towed back , there were several interested parties observing the car. Onlookers included Kyle Larson, Chad Knaus, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fortunately for Richard Childress Racing, they were able to ship the car back to the shop and rebuild it.

READ MORE: “Little Bit of a Rollercoaster Ride” – Austin Dillon on the Chaotic Coke Zero Sugar 400