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Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.
The return of NASCAR to Circuit of The Americas is almost like a debut. Not only is the Next Gen car making its road-course debut, but it is also a much different weather scenario considering the wet conditions during the races last year and the repaving that has happened since then. We saw drivers getting acquainted with the track and the setups Saturday, with some notable spins and brake lockups in Cup Series practice and qualifying, along with another show of the durability of the Next Gen car.
Ryan Blaney spun during a practice session and ended up in the tire barrier with some apparent interaction with the left rear corner of his car. The composite body panels popped back into place as soon as he drove away from the scene and his team determined that there were no suspension issues after they inspected the damage and sent him back out on track.
Joey Hand was not quite as lucky with his No. 15 Ford Mustang as he locked up his right front tire and ended up with some rubber delamination, which resulted in a layer of rubber being flung into the fender well and breaking off the fender — along with damage to the hood and front bumper.
Hand was not able to qualify, but his Rick Ware Racing crew got to work immediately and bolted on new composite body pieces such as the fender and front bumper cover, along with other internal pieces like the closeout panel that sits inside the fender.
The nature of the composite panels being able to bolt on individually allows for quicker repairs, as we noted earlier this year, and the team was seen applying vinyl on the reassembled car less than four hours after the initial damage on track occurred.
Teams are still learning more about the Next Gen car. Not only are they able to make repairs quickly when necessary, but they are also optimizing on the areas where they can do some development.
As we noted earlier this week, new rules have been put in place for the windshield wiper assemblies. While many teams are running fairly standard windshield wiper motors like the Bosch Motorsport WPA, it was apparent that the wiper blade assemblies were being explored as an area to optimize on the aerodynamics of the cars with some of the assemblies being built to what appeared to be the maximum size allowed in the rule book.
The wipers are unlikely to get used for their primary purpose Sunday, but fans and drivers will both be happy to see them sit idly by and enjoy the first road course action of the season in the dry.