The Kyle Larson-Bubba Wallace Statistic That Proves NASCAR Stepped in the ‘Next Gen’ Era Even Before the New Car Hit the Track

Irrespective of what you think, NASCAR is already in a new era, largely thanks to the Next Gen car. The new car, which has enabled more competitive racing, has once again taken the sport closer to its core that can be simply defined in two words, ‘exciting racing.’

But in a way, this new era got underway before the Next Gen car hit the track. In fact, one can argue and make a case that NASCAR’s ‘Next Gen’ era began in 2021 only.

This would naturally raise the question, “How could that be?”

Well, just take a look at this one statistic that puts the light on the winners of the last nine Cup races.

The race winners, namely Kyle Larson (5), Alex Bowman (2), Bubba Wallace (1), and Austin Cindric (1) are all drivers who are under the age of 30.

Historically speaking, NASCAR has seen many greats, and all those greats define an era. But the thing that always incites a new era is the young and upcoming drivers who take over from the old guard and become greats.

It was Dale Earnhardt in the 80s, Jeff Gordon in the 90s, and Jimmie Johnson in the 2000s.

As for who the new ‘great in the making’ is? That’s a million-dollar question.

Jeff Gordon is all in for the NASCAR Next Gen action

Coming back to the vehicle of the new generation of NASCAR, the Next Gen car, it has been somewhat of a ‘critics loved it, audience dislike it’ kind of case. Because as good as the car has been in making racing more unpredictable and exciting, it also has some concerning issues, like reliability, supply, etc.

However, former NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon is choosing to look at the former.

“I think we’ve seen great racing. I think we’ve seen cars coming from the back to the front, front to the back,” Gordon said recently. “We’ve seen where they can race hard. But the cars are on the edge.”

“The drivers are definitely having to show their talent and ability.”

So it seems we have a potent formula in our hands – a stock car capable of unpredictable racing, and young racecar drivers capable of producing exciting racing.

Also Read: “A Little Bit of a Process” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Asks NASCAR Fans to Not Lose It Amidst the Recent Next Gen Scrutiny