Cody Ware Reveals Safety Equipment Was Destroyed in Gnarly Chicago Crash

What’s Happening?

At the end of Sunday’s Chicago Street Race, Cody Ware suffered a brutal impact into the tire barrier. Though he was checked and released from the care center following the gnarly impact, he revealed on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio today that some of his safety equipment inside the car was absolutely destroyed.

Pretty much everything from the interior of the car, as well as my gear, was killed on that impact […] There was a crack in the EPS foam inside the helmet. The HANS device was cracked. The steering wheel got bent up pretty good as well. I think it’s just a testimony to all the safety people that are selling us helmets and HANSes as well as steering wheels from Max Papis.

-Cody Ware

• Since debuting in 2022, the NextGen car has been controversial, not only in the way it races at short tracks and road courses, but also due to the various safety issues that have come to the surface with the car. In 2022, there were three major injuries. This includes Kurt Busch’s career-ending concussion from Pocono that season.
• Later on in the clip, Cody Ware discusses his own injury from inside the car. That also happened in 2022 at Texas. Ware injured his ankle, causing him to miss two weeks of action that season. Following this incident, NASCAR changed the rear clip so that the NextGen car could better absorb hard impacts.
• The incident on Sunday stemmed from a loss of brakes in the 51 car. A number of drivers reported brake issues and/or issues with the throttle sticking. Both William Byron and Michael McDowell exited the race early with similar issues.
• Since the 2022, injuries in the NextGen era seem to have tapered off. There was only one in 2023 with Noah Gragson’s concussion. Then, in 2024, Erik Jones broke his back. Thankfully, thus far into 2025, no new injuries have happened in the NextGen car.

What do you think about this, Daily Downforce readers? Do you think that there’s still work to be done to improve the safety for drivers in the NextGen car? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.