The test of the new NASCAR Next Gen car received a great response from both Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch after their individual tests on Monday. The drivers then ran alongside each other in the first two-car test for the Next Gen drive, on Wednesday.
However, Wednesday’s test revealed that there is still work to be done by the time the car debuts in 2022. A senior NASCAR official opened up on the feedback received from the drivers and the teams after the test on Wednesday.
The second test of the week was conducted on the oval track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Monday’s tests were at the Roval.
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“Feedback (Wednesday) frankly wasn’t as good as it was on the road course,” said John Probst, Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation at NASCAR.
Probst said that they have collected a lot of data over the three days at Charlotte, including the two days of testing. His team will now start making the necessary improvements. “We’ll figure out what modifications we need to make,” Probst said.
The testing session may be done at @CLTMotorSpdwy, but we'll be thinking about these two cars on track for a while 😍. pic.twitter.com/hHP5dlvP4w
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 20, 2020
What next for the NASCAR Next Gen car?
Probst says the car’s design will be finalized in the next few months. They will work with the teams and OEMs. “We’ll enlist the help of our OEMs and teams to help us make the right decisions here as we finalize the design of this car in the next few months,” Probst said further.
While Truex Jr. and Busch were both impressed with how the sequential shifter and increased brakes worked on Monday, Probst said he always expected them to like that over what was on offer in the two-car test. “It was pretty much anticipated that they’d like that over what we had (Wednesday),” he expressed.
While Wednesday’s reviews weren’t that good, Probst feels they are definitely positive to help NASCAR in the right direction. He said the involvement of two experienced drivers in the testing phase is a huge plus.
“It’s always good when you can get veterans in the car that you can use as a guidepost to keep you going in the right direction. They did a phenomenal job for us. We couldn’t ask for anything more,” he said.
Seven or eight tests scheduled for 2021
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NASCAR will start Wheel Force Transducer (WFT) testing in a few months, Probst said. Until then, the manufacturers will complete building their own specific vehicles. The WFT Test will have 3 cars on the track together.
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Night Riders#NextGen pic.twitter.com/rVinZ3zkN0
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 19, 2020
“We’re working on a tire test plan with Goodyear right now. That will likely have seven or eight tests for 2021,” Probst expressed further.
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The 2021 season will be an important year for the Next Gen car. NASCAR will hope to make an ideal model well before the car’s debut at Daytona in 2022. The next test is in December at Daytona International Speedway.