NASCAR racing, which started in 1949, is now known as NASCAR Cup Series and was referred to as the Strictly Stock division. Since the first season, a lot has changed. The cars used at NASCAR’s top series have gone from strictly stock cars to strictly race cars. With the introduction of the seventh-generation Cup car in the 2022 Cup Series, however, the sport saw one of the biggest changes in the history of stock car racing.
With half of the 2022 season over, it is safe to say that the Next Gen car has largely delivered on its promises and produced some high-intensity competition.
In the latest episode of NBC’s podcast, former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty highlighted the factors that have changed the 2022 Cup Series and said:
“I will use the word great. What’s been great about this, this car, it has changed the sport and it has changed. It has changed the product and what we see on the racetrack and so many changes that were made from bodies and vents and all the things that went on aero-wise and engine-wise over the last seven or eight years didn’t really change the product.”
He continued by saying:
“It didn’t change for one race. But this has changed the product on what I as a race fancy visually what I see on the race track, especially on a mile track, a mile and a half track, road courses, some of those places, it’s a lot different.”
“It seems to be a changing of the guard”- Kyle Petty on NASCAR Next Gen car
The Next Gen car made its debut at Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, where it was put through its paces around the tight and demanding 2.5-mile-long track.
Speaking about the Next Gen car, Petty said it is one of those seasons in the sport where so many things are changing from car to race track.
He said:
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“I think this is one of those years or one of those times in a sport and especially in this sport where so many things are converging at the same time. It seems to be a changing of the guard. It’s a change of the car. It’s a change of the tracks.”
In the first 15 races of the season, the Next Gen car has made its appearances on almost every surface, whether it’s an oval, superspeedway, road course, or dirt.