Speaking for a lot of fans.
NASCAR has faced quite a few problems with their Gen 7 (or Next Gen) Cup Series car since it debuted back in 2022. The car was meant to save teams money by requiring them to use parts sourced from a single source and standardizing many of the parts of the car – think buying a model car from Walmart and just putting it together.
The problem, though, has been that the car has been generally terrible at short tracks and road courses, putting on some pretty boring races at what used to be some of the sport’s most exciting tracks.
As a result, NASCAR made some changes following last season by decreasing the downforce and increasing the horsepower at tracks less than a mile and a half, which has undoubtedly helped – though it definitely hasn’t solved the problem altogether.
Another problem that NASCAR is facing comes on superspeedways, those tracks longer than 2 miles that feature drafting and cars racing in large packs (basically Daytona and Talladega, as well as Atlanta since it was remodeled).
The past several superspeedway races have featured long periods of time where the drivers would run around in a large pack at significantly less than full throttle in an attempt to save fuel. And there high-downforce package that the Cup Series runs also makes it nearly impossible to pass, because the cars are so stable and glued to the track.
Well NASCAR has taken note of the problems, and yesterday announced changes for the upcoming superspeedway race at Daytona to hopefully improve some of the racing.
NASCAR will shorten the rear spoiler on the Cup Series cars from 7 inches to 4 inches, which is the same height it currently runs at intermediate tracks, in an effort to reduce drag on the cars. But the cars will also see a reduction in horsepower from 510 to 465 to adjust for the reduced downforce.
According to NASCAR, the result will be single-car runs that are approximately 3 mph faster than the current package, while cars in a pack are expected to run around the same speeds as they currently do.
It remains to be seen whether the changes have the intended result – but one championship-winning crew chief apparently thinks more changes are needed.
Cole Pearn was the crew chief for Martin Truex Jr. from 2015 to 2019, winning 24 races and the 2017 Cup Series championship. He left the sport following the 2019 season to pursue opportunities outside of racing, and he’s generally remained pretty quiet on the sport since returning to his native Canada.
But every once in a while, Pearn takes to Twitter to weigh in on the state of affairs in NASCAR – and it’s always pure gold.
Pearn is responsible for maybe my favorite tweet in NASCAR history when he dropped this banger as his first tweet in three years:
Just throwing pure heat every time he opens the app. And luckily, Pearn decided to weigh in on the changes NASCAR is making to the superspeedway package by absolutely blasting them for ruining the Next Gen car:
I mean, there are a lot of fans – and drivers – who would agree with Pearn’s take here. And given all the changes NASCAR has made since the introduction of the Next Gen car, it seems like they recognize that they missed the mark with the car – even though the “donkeys” at NASCAR will never admit it.
