NASCAR wants input from legends on Next Gen car

NASCAR has had several current drivers test out the Next Gen car, but the sport will now look to some legends of the past for additional advice.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season will be one to remember, as the Next Gen car is set to make its long-awaited debut. This new car features multiple changes from the design to the build and beyond.

As one example, gone is the traditional “H” pattern shifter, which will be replaced by a five-speed manual sequential transmission.

One change introduced for the Next Gen car that caused a divide among the fanbase was the number placement. Instead of the traditional number placement on the door, the Next Gen car will see the number moved forward.

This design change had a test run at the 2020 All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (when the numbers were actually moved backwards), and now it will be permanent.

As far as how the cars will drive, the current stars of the Cup Series have been able to try that out for themselves. NASCAR held a test session at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval earlier this month.

But NASCAR isn’t stopping with the sport’s current stars.

Despite having the feedback of the current generation of drivers, NASCAR will also turn to multiple former drivers who have been through multiple generations of stock car racing to test out the newest car as the sport tries to give life to the “rebirth of stock”.

Motorsport.com reported that NASCAR Hall of Famers Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will test out the Next Gen car, and former Stewart-Haas Racing driver and current FOX Sports analyst Clint Bowyer will get the chance to do so as well.

The test will take place later today at Bowman Gray Stadium, a quarter-mile short track in Winstom-Salem, North Carolina. The layout of this track is extremely similar to one which will be used at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the 2022 Clash exhibition race in February.