NASCAR: Bubba Wallace lands Next Gen test date
By Asher Fair
Bubba Wallace is set to test the Next Gen NASCAR Cup Series car at Richmond Raceway on Wednesday in the second test of the year.
The second test of the year for the Next Gen NASCAR Cup Series car, which is slated to be introduced ahead of the 2022 season following a one-year delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, is scheduled to take place tomorrow at Richmond Raceway, and it is Bubba Wallace who is set to drive the car.
Wallace, who is in his fourth season as a full-time Cup Series driver and his first driving the #23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, sits in 19th place in the Cup Series point standings through five races with a top finish of 16th at Phoenix Raceway.
His test at the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) oval in Richmond, Virginia will be the ninth official test of the Generation 7 machine.
The first test of 2021 took place at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was run by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch.
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The seven official tests prior to that took place at Richmond Raceway, Phoenix Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Dover International Speedway, the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and Daytona International Speedway.
Austin Dillon drove the car at Richmond Raceway in October 2019 while Joey Logano drove it at Phoenix Raceway in December 2019, Erik Jones drove it at Homestead-Miami Speedway in January 2020, William Byron drove it at Auto Club Speedway in March 2020, Cole Custer drove it at Dover International Speedway in August 2020 and both Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. drove it at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in November 2020. Chris Buescher drove it at Daytona International Speedway in December 2020.
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The development stage of the Next Gen car had been completed before the 2021 season began, according to NASCAR senior vice president of innovation and racing development John Probst, and teams are reportedly set to begin receiving the cars roughly three months from now.