“Secrets Don’t Last Long” – Kenny Wallace Declares NASCAR Has Killed Engineering; Dale Earnhardt Jr Begs to Differ

Long gone are the days when teams were allowed to tweak their machines to a permissible level, often providing drivers with a huge performance bonus. With the advent of next-gen cars, that has become next to impossible in the current NASCAR landscape.

With the auto-racing body’s bid to level the field, the usher of the Gen-7 aka next-gen cars has made the competition fair and square for everyone across the roster. But does that minimize the element of creativity and engineering in the art of car making? Here’s what Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr had to say about it!

Dale Earnhardt Jr misses good ol’ days but prefers his “peace of mind”

Today, NASCAR acquires all its parts from single-source suppliers. That results in every single car on the racetrack being the exact same, in terms of components. Hence, there is no possibility for a driver to gain an advantage over another, solely based on speed. One could easily argue that back in the day of Tony Eury and Tony Eury Sr, the cars had more of a kick to them, as they could be crafted according to will and need. Even Kenny Wallace admitted that he liked how the cars used to be during his racing days.

“I kind of liked it where a team could craft cars,” he added, saying, “Because when you look at Formula 1, it’s Mercedes versus all the other makers, Porsche, Ferrari, and whatever it is.” However, Dale Earnhardt Jr had his own take on this.

Although Junior loved being able to create an advantage in the shop, he also admitted that there are both pros and cons to it. In order to get an upper-hand over other cars, a team must hire a mechanical genius to yield that supremacy for them. But that is bound to be expensive!

Junior explained, “You get a great fabricator that knows how to build a quarter panel better than anybody else and he’s going to get offers from other teams and you’re going to be at battle all the time trying to keep those people in your building. And secrets don’t last long. The garage is so tight, people see everything! You’re not gonna hide nothing.”

Dale further revealed how the current batch of cars provide him with the much-needed “peace of mind”.

“I love the peace of mind that the new next-gen cars bring, man. If you know how to set the thing up, you can beat some of these guys,” he added. What Dale Earnhardt Jr said was great about the next-gen cars is exactly why NASCAR decided to formulate them.

Watch this story: Next Gen Cars Stir Debate in NASCAR

NASCAR president stressed reducing costs for the teams, hence benefitting OEMs

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Reality bit NASCAR hard when Furniture Row Racing went from winning the championship in 2017 with Martin Truex Jr, to closing its doors just a year later. Many teams questioned their sustainability in the sport. Sponsorships and the ever-rising cost of manufacturing had already been a point of contention, before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world forever. The introduction of the next-gen cars, however, provides a relief to Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEMs).

According to NASCAR President Steve Phelps, “The costs associated with the vehicle will be lower in terms of its absolute cost as well as the number of cars that will be necessary to run and run up front. Those are all wins for us.”

“I believe new OEMs and the relevance of this sport, where this sport now ranks within the sports entertainment landscape, is different than it was a year ago, two years ago, three years ago. With that, as well as the Next Gen car coming out next year, I think there’s going to be some renewed interest from an OEM perspective,” he added.

Additionally, from an aesthetic standpoint, the manufacturers are now able to pull off their styling quotients on the body of the cars, making the car symmetrical for the first time in years, rather than their bodies being skewed in the chassis.

Read more: Should NASCAR Continue Running on Road Courses or Limit Itself to Oval Layouts?