“When I Watch It Race” – Steve Letarte Cites Dale Earnhardt Jr & Jeff Gordon Example Regarding Next Gen Car’s Behavior on Plate Tracks

The 2023 Daytona 500 concluded recently and it gave fans and experts plenty of talking points. One of them was the Next Gen car and the restrictor plate package that was in place for the weekend. In light of this, former NASCAR crew chief Steve Letarte opened up on the situation in the latest Dale Jr Download podcast. He even cited the example of his former drivers, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr himself.

Letarte mentioned on the podcast, “This car, when I watch it race, it’s funny, cause you and I see this very differently. You experienced the old car so well, you would see runs develop, and in your mind, you’re like ‘oh that’s happening.’ I am three-tenths of a second behind you, I’m like, ‘Really?’ I couldn’t see it like you saw it.

Now this car, seems like it is a truck. It is like it’s up against this big draggy, like it’s ready to go. So it doesn’t take much of a sniff of a draft to really accelerate.”

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What else did he say about Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jeff Gordon?

According to him, the Next Gen car is a lot heavier than the cars during his days as crew chief. Back then, the cars could get into the draft very easily and keep up the momentum. This was something that Letarte picked up from being Dale Jr and Gordon’s crew chief.

He continued, “I think the difference is, for me, you taught me this and Gordon taught me this, a great speedway car would get a run and then keep a run. For an extra 500, 1000 feet, for that last foot that you need to pull down in line.

“When we won the 500, there was like a moment there with 15 or 20 to go, that we had to complete pass. I was like, ‘Man! If that car isn’t good enough, it doesn’t complete the pass, and that makes the whole day.’ This car gets a run real quick and then loses a run real quick.”

For the moment, Cup Series drivers will have to make do with the current generation of cars. Hopefully, they can continue to adapt to the cars and extract the most out of them.

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