NASCAR’s Next Gen car rolls into LVMS with rave reviews

The sleek Next Gen car designed to improve competition on the track and lower costs away from it has reviewed rave reviews from drivers and fans alike based on how it performed at the season-opening Daytona 500 and in NASCAR’s return to Auto Club Speedway in California last week.

Hopes are high the new cars will be just as racy on smaller 1.5-mile tracks such as Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Pennzoil 400.

“As you look at the first two races, I don’t think there can be really much to complain about from what you’ve seen and what everybody has watched,” said Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champion and a two-time winner of LVMS’ spring race.

“I think as we go through the first half of this year, from a team standpoint and a competitor’s standpoint, there’s going to be things that have to be fixed and changed. It’s just part of the process. But I don’t think there’s anything that’s overwhelmingly concerning.”

Passing fancy

The Daytona 500 produced its usual allotment of big crashes and an exciting finish from which the rookie Cindric emerged victorious. Even more encouraging was reigning series and Pennzoil 400 champ Kyle Larson charging from the back of the pack to win a race in California that produced 32 lead changes — the third-most in track history, and double the number from the same race in 2020, the last time NASCAR raced at Auto Club.

“That’s not MPH… that’s # of cars passed,” wrote Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, on his Twitter account under a photo that showed him speeding down the backstretch under a digital readout that said 181.

In past years on intermediate tracks such as Las Vegas, there hasn’t always been a lot passing. But optimism is high that the dicing throughout the field and five-wide scrums on restarts witnessed in California will translate to Las Vegas and the other 1.5-mile ovals.

“Until we get a bunch of racecars out there, it’s kind of hard to predict that stuff,” said Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney, who is coming off a breakthrough 2021 season in which he won three times. “But it’s been a blast to drive so far. It’s cool to challenge yourself and find new ways to go fast in a completely new racecar.”

This isn’t the first time NASCAR has adopted a new car, but it’s probably the first one where the changes are so dramatic. Starting with the car’s profile, larger wheels and, perhaps most noticeable, the placement of the number on the side of the car — it has been moved from the center of the doors to the front, providing more space for sponsor logos — the appearance of the new car is striking.

Looks like a winner

“They hit a home run,” two-time series champion Kyle Busch said about the new car’s aesthetics. “I think there’s some elements of it that we could have tweaked on a little bit, just from personal taste. But (I’d give it) nine out of 10.

“In my opinion, the COT (Car of Tomorrow, used from 2007-2012) was not all that nice to look at. But this Next Gen car, I feel like they hit it way closer.”

Based on the reaction from the broadcast booth after Larson drove past Daniel Suarez and held off fellow upstarts Austin Dillon and Erik Jones for the win in California, the new car is pretty close to being a perfect 10 — it’s harder to drive, but when set up well, it can be maneuvered through traffic.

“There’s (still) a lot of figuring out to do but man, I liked what we saw in the competition — the dicing, the slicing, five-wide on restarts,” said analyst and former driver Clint Bowyer. “We saw it all with this car.”

Sidekick and play-by-play voice Mike Joy noted the ease with which Larson drove from the back to the front, and how nine different teams were represented in the top 10 at the finish.

“That to me spells parity,” Joy said with an inflection befitting his surname. “Let’s pack up and head to Las Vegas.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.