In the April 14 episode of Actions Detrimental, NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin spoke on the frustration of the Next-Gen car developed by NASCAR and its lack of passing during last Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“You will not pass when the field runs the same speed,” Hamlin said. “This is what ownership of NASCAR wanted; they wanted to build a sports car, and we’re gonna race this sports car on all these different tracks; it just doesn’t race well.”
Under the next-gen car, short-track racing has suffered, both in the eyes of the drivers and the fans. Hamlin believes there are fixes but does not know if they will happen. “There are fixes we can do to it, but I’m not in charge,” Hamlin said. “There’s been no discussion on fixing things that really need to be addressed on it,”
Hamlin felt the car’s platform and running are among the biggest detriments to on-track performance. The rear of the car is low to the ground, and the front being high negatively impacts the car in traffic. “You get a front end that’s not on the ground. It’s in the air because we have to feed the underbody of the car,” Hamlin said. “Soon as we get behind somebody, that thing just lifts right on up, and you got no front downforce.”
A possible fix Hamlin suggested is to be more like the current Xfinity Series cars. “We got to get more overbody and less underbody because that’s what the Xfinity car has,” Hamlin said. “This is my theory: all the downforce is made from underneath, not over top. Get these cars pitched up in the back like we’re supposed to run them.”
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