Rumor Mill: New NASCAR Truck on the Way?
What’s Happening? Comments made by a NASCAR Cup Series team executive on a recent podcast episode have fans NASCAR asking what…
In 2022, NASCAR introduced its first-ever single-lug nut wheel to competition with the NASCAR Next Gen car.
As drastic a change as this was, for the time, it was only for the NASCAR Cup Series, with the O’Reilly and Truck Series left with traditional five-lug nut wheels.
Still, as the years have gone on, fans have wondered if the lower two NASCAR National Series would move to this format, and Monday night, the community was buzzing about this possibility after a new podcast episode.
During an appearance on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Spire Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion, a veteran of all three NASCAR National Series, said that both the Truck and OAP Series are rumored to be headed down this path in the future.
“Rumor has it. . . down the road that the O’Reilly and Trucks will be on single lug at some point” — Kevin Manion
While this rumor is still not confirmed by NASCAR, it is likely not much of a surprise to many, as talks of major changes to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck and OAP Series have been discussed for some time.
Just this year, during an episode of DBC, co-host Tommy Baldwin Jr., a former crew chief, team owner, and competition director in the Cup Series, said NASCAR is looking to “implement this new truck in a couple years.”
What’s Happening? Comments made by a NASCAR Cup Series team executive on a recent podcast episode have fans NASCAR asking what…
Again, while it is not confirmed that NASCAR is introducing a new truck anytime soon, last fall, Denny Hamlin made waves on his podcast Actions Detrimental, after claiming that NASCAR is telling teams in the Truck Series they “need them to go to spec trucks by 2028.”
On the OAP Series side of things, while there is no new car confirmed to be on the way, NASCAR had a controversial moment earlier this season when NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst suggested that the crossover-style bodies used in NASCAR’s demonstration EVs could be the future of the series.
NASCAR would ultimately clear the air on this by stating that this is merely a discussion they have had and that the switch would not be to electric vehicles, merely the designs used on those cars shown off by NASCAR at select events over the past few seasons.
What’s Happening? Following backlash over an interview with a NASCAR executive, officials within the sport have stepped up to clarify confusion…
Regardless, it has been some time since either series has seen major changes.
For one, the OAP Series still uses the same generation car, albeit with some changes like the 2018 adoption of composite bodies, which it introduced in 2010, while the Truck Series still uses steel bodies.
As of now, NASCAR has yet to announce any changes to either series platform, but that doesn’t mean that rumors of a complete overhaul, or even a minor shift like single lug nut wheels, are going anywhere anytime soon.
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