Next Gen Struggles at Short Tracks

NASCAR introduced the Next Gen car to the Cup Series for the 2022 season. NASCAR sold the Next Gen car as the great equalizer of competition. All the car had to do was deliver on this promise of parody and supply quality racing to be considered a success. How has the Next Gen car met those two goals?

In terms of parody, it would be considered a huge success. While Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing cars normally headline the weekly contenders, there have been 19 different winners through the Bristol night race. Those 19 winners include drivers from surprising teams, such as Erik Jones with Petty-GMS Motorsports, Chris Buescher with RFK Racing, and Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez combining for 3 wins for TrackHouse Racing. What may be more surprising is that Martin Truex Jr and Ryan Blaney are not a part of those 19 winners. Parody accomplished.

Which leads to goal number two: has the racing been good? For the majority of the schedule, yes. Jeff Gluck’s fan poll has reflected this sentiment from fans. A majority of the races have “Yes” votes over the 70% mark. The Next Gen car has revitalized intermediate track racing. Auto Club’s race was fantastic enough to bring dismay to fans when the 2023 schedule release confirmed the track’s transformation to a short track after next season’s race. Imagine that: NASCAR fans being upset about an intermediate track being changed to a short track. That feeling is completely understandable as the Next Gen car has been terrible at the three short tracks on the schedule.

The Next Gen car has some serious issues with it, primarily the safety issues that seem to pop up from week to week. After they make the cars safer, NASCAR needs to adjust the car, aero package, and/or tires to make short track racing exciting again. The Spring Martinsville race, both Richmond races, and now Bristol’s night race were all examples of poor short tracking racing. Richmond could be forgiven since the track has been producing snoozers over the past few years. But Martinsville and Bristol are sacred events for NASCAR fans. Those two tracks consistently host top-notch racing. By a normal season’s end, Bristol and Martinsville races are contenders for race of the year. This year, not so much.

Richmond Tire Strategies

To start 2022, the Next Gen car was impressing. The Clash was a spectacle of beating and banging. The Daytona 500 raced the same as it did with the previous car. Auto Club impressed everybody and Las Vegas continued those positive vibes. Phoenix might have been the first “meh” race. Not a bad race, but not matching the levels of the previous races. Superspeedway Atlanta’s mixed reviews came down to how fans felt about changing the track rather than the Next Gen car itself. The Next Gen passed its first road course test at COTA with an exciting finish to boot (first instance of a driver being Chastained). Then came Spring Richmond.

This was the first race where the Next Gen car clearly came up short. Once again, Richmond has been hosting less-than thrilling races for a few years now. If the Next Gen car did not produce a great race here, it would be easy to blame the track. With that in mind, the Next Gen car did not deliver.

Both Richmond races were subpar races. Passing the leader was almost impossible without lapped traffic or a significant tire advantage. Moving through the field came down to who had the significantly fresher tires. In both races, the drama during the closing laps came down to whether the driver with the freshest tires could catch the leader before the checkered flag. In the Spring, Denny Hamlin was able to do that by besting Kevin Harvick on the same strategy while chasing down William Byron. Christopher Bell fell one lap shy of Hamlin’s path to victory when chasing Harvick in the Fall. Intrigue at the end of a race cannot save the overall experience though.

When the leaders were on similar tire strategies, the race for the lead was one sided. The leader in clean air could keep second at bay. In the Fall race, the most exciting battle for the lead was Chris Buescher riding a second behind Harvick. The excitement came when Brad Keselowski channeled his inner Ryan Newman. Keselowski, who was being lapped, was blocking Harvick to allow Buescher a chance to pass. If Buescher was able to make said pass, RFK’s first win might have been for a playoff spot. If that is the highlight of the race, then there is a major issue with the racing.

The chinks in the armor of the Next Gen car were starting to appear at a short track.

Freezing in Martinsville

After the Spring Richmond race, the Next Gen car travel to Martinsville Speedway. Hoping to quell the rumbling worries from the Richmond race, Martinsville looked poised to host an exciting event. The race was being run on a Saturday night and the length was reduced to 400 miles. Under the lights with 100 less laps would surely equal more exciting racing from the drop of the green flag, right? Not at all.

The Spring Martinsville race was a miserable experience for all. If you were watching at home, the race was mind numbingly boring. If you were at the race, the race was mind numbingly boring and it was freezing. The race was delayed by rain while temperatures hovered the low-40s/upper-30s. Wet fans then sat frozen as the Next Gen car hugged the inside lane for 400 laps with little passing.

Similar to Richmond, passing the leader was an impossible challenge to do under the green flag. There were only 5 lead changes. Of the 5, 2 were under caution, 2 were due to lapped traffic, and the final one was William Byron charging past Austin Dillon on a restart. Even a questionable late race caution to set up an Overtime finish produced no entertainment. Once the leader pull away, there was no passing him.

Passing should be difficult. It should take great driving ability to pass a top-level stock car driver. However, passing should not be near impossible. That is what the Next Gen car showed at Martinsville. Not only was passing for the leader a herculean task, any type of pass was incredibly difficult. Mid-pack racing was bogged down by the inability to pass. The main way to gain positions during the race was during restarts when a driver would get stuck in the outside lane. Other than that, passing became an effort of dive bombing corners, which could only be accomplished after laps of inching closer and closer. Passing lapped traffic was even a struggle.

Martinsville demonstrated that Richmond was not a track issue. The Next Gen car at Martinsville could only hug the bottom of the track. There was no outside lane that could even be slightly competitive for a lap or two turns. Cars could not get close enough to pull off the bump and run. If a driver were to bump and run, it would be a door slam while while under-braking.

Martinsville turned out to be a hot mess. The Next Gen car looked like a short track killer. Bristol was the last test.

Thank God for Car Issues

The Bristol night race is the perfect event for a cutoff race in the playoff format. Short track racing at its finest when done right. Close racing with beating and banging that could spark driver rivalries in an instance. There is a reason the track is called The Colosseum. The Next Gen car had to pass this test. It’s Bristol after all. Plus, it is the only true Bristol race the fans get all year.

The other two short tracks were bad, but Bristol is a different type of short track. It is faster, higher banked, and has multiple grooves for racing. Surely, the Next Gen car could produce good racing for the Bristol night race, right? Nope.

Similar to Martinsville, passing was near impossible to do all night, especially for the lead. Chris Buescher won the race by taking two tires on his last stop. Chase Elliott could not get anywhere near Buescher during the final 57 laps after taking four tires. Cars could not get close enough to attempt a bump and run maneuver. Mid-pack passing also seemed tough to complete. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin both complained post race about the inability to pass. Christopher Bell could not make up lost ground after the final caution with arguably the best car of the night. There were 12 lead changes during the race. 9 of the 12 lead changes occurred during a caution.

What is saving NASCAR from this race being ripped completely is the drama of the race. The end of the first playoff round makes for good TV, especially when the points for the cutoff were so close. The battle to move forward in playoffs was not a test of driver ability, but of the Next Gen’s ability to survive. The Next Gen cars were actively failing during the race. Fords were consistently blowing tires. Multiple drivers had power steering issues, with the Toyotas being most snake pit by them. Kyle Busch’s motor expired in the middle of the race. Daniel Suarez caused a wreck that collected multiple playoff drivers, including both RCR drivers. With all of that, it was more entertaining to count the potential position gains of damaged lapped cars than any battle between lead lap cars.

A Bristol race should not need mechanical failures for it be interesting. But that is where this Next Gen car has taken us. Short track racing has drastically declined with this car. Is there anybody truly looking forward to the racing for the Fall Martinsville race? Or is NASCAR banking on the Next Gen car having issues to stir up the drama again?

Fans have clamored for more Cup Series short track races for years. NASCAR is bringing back North Wilkesboro for the All-Star Race next season. Auto Club is being changed to a short track. All of this should be great news. However, it is difficult to get excited about these announcements because the current short track racing is broken. NASCAR needs to fix this. The Next Gen car has done some great things, but it has ruined short track racing for 2022. NASCAR has to prevent that in 2023.