Chase Elliott, like many NASCAR Cup Series drivers, is concerned about the safety of the Next Gen car, which made its debut this season.
His and his competitors’ sentiments are extremely understandable, as multiple drivers have said many of the hits and impacts have felt much harder this season in the new car compared with previous years. And two drivers, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman, have been sidelined this season with concussion-like symptoms following wrecks.
Busch has not raced since July after his concussion symptoms appeared following a wreck at Pocono Raceway. And now, Bowman announced Thursday that he won’t compete at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend because he’s experiencing concussion-like symptoms after wrecking at Texas Motor Speedway last Sunday.
— Alex Bowman (@Alex_Bowman) September 29, 2022
Alex Bowman: "I don't understand how this thing is still rolling. That's the hardest I've crashed anything in my entire life."
Kevin Hamlin: "You just hit in the worst spot on these cars, bud."
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) September 25, 2022
This week, in response to a tweet from Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks about the car’s safety, Elliott said, “we should never take steps backwards in any area with a new design.”
With the experience and knowledge gained since 1948 and the technology we have in 2022… we should never take steps backwards in any area with a new design.
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) September 26, 2022
Then Saturday during a press conference at Talladega, Elliott was asked about his tweet and where he’d like to see NASCAR and the Next Gen car go moving forward. He noted how drivers seemed to be OK after similar wrecks in previous seasons, but this year, there appear to be more injuries.
Elliott said:
“I don’t feel like we should have ever been in this position to begin with to need to go forward. We should have gone forward with a new opportunity at a new car, in my opinion. You have all of these years of experience and knowledge and time of racing and crashing these cars and teams working on them and building them. It just blows me away that we can have something new in 2022 that offers all of this technology and all of this time and experience of so many super talented people in this sport, and we allow it to go backwards, especially with safety.
“It’s just super surprising to me that we allow that to happen. But we did, and now it’s just about how do we go forward from here, making sure we’re making the right choices to improve what we have and keep things like what happened to Alex this week from happening? And what happened to Kurt. Those types of incidents didn’t result in injuries in the past handful of years from just me watching. Obviously, I’m not doctor, but I’ve watched a lot of cars back into the wall and those guys be fine.”
Chase Elliott says he is afraid the sport has gone backward when it comes to safety and the Next Gen car. He said he still has confidence that improvements will be made to the car. pic.twitter.com/uvwjcaVwgq
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 1, 2022
Other drivers have also explained that mild-looking crashes have come with harder impacts on them, like when a car hits the wall rear first.
“From the get-go, everybody could see that this car was way too stiff,” Kevin Harvick said in July, per NBC Sports. “When I crashed it (at Auto Club Speedway in practice), I thought the car was destroyed and it barely backed the bumper off. It just felt like somebody hit you with a hammer.”
Harvick also specifically said he feels that other than his fellow drivers, people in the industry don’t appreciate just how hard these hits are and aren’t taking their complaints seriously. Along with Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and Christopher Bell are among those who have expressed similar concerns throughout the season.
Elliott continued Saturday at Talladega:
“I just hate to see that. No one is immune to it. It could be me next week, or it could be any of my peers or fellow competitors. Nobody wants to see that no matter how much you like or dislike a guy, in my opinion. I just hate to see us go backwards, and I’m afraid that we have in some of those areas.
“But look, it’s just about how do we come together and how do we go forward from here. I think there’s a lot of really smart individuals to try and help make that happen, and I’m confident that we will. But it’s crucial that we do, in my opinion, because having guys out during the playoffs right now – or any time for that matter – shouldn’t be happening, and I think it’s taking away from our product on Sunday.”
Several drivers throughout the season have noted they’ve suffered some of the hardest hits in their careers this year, and NASCARMAN, NASCAR’s unofficial historian, compiled many of their comments in this detailed thread:
Throughout 2022, a major topic of discussion has been how the moderate impacts in crashes have felt harder for drivers.
Making a thread to collect the comments of drivers and industry members in one place:
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) August 30, 2022
Kevin Harvick August 6th: "Every time I hit something, it's a lot harsher than any hit I've took in any of the other cars. The only thing I can compare it to is hitting a concrete wall, compared to what it used to be."https://t.co/gg59wq9AvU
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) August 30, 2022
Bubba Wallace was vocal about his displeasure with the performance in a rear impact after the big one at Daytona
"NASCAR, these f**** cars suck when you get hit in the rear! Never thought I'd get the breath knocked out of me getting hit in the rear. What a f**** joke we drive." pic.twitter.com/Kbhx7Ay7jD
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) August 30, 2022
And following more recent wrecks and Bowman’s concussion-like symptoms, drivers continue to speak out, urging NASCAR to address the safety of the car:
Pretty disappointing that our sanctioning body refuses to acknowledge or accept any responsibility for drivers getting hurt. It’s the same THEY said. WE knew better. It’s wrong these drivers continue to get taken advantage of by the system.
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 30, 2022
Completely unacceptable that those in charge have let things get to this point. I remember it like it was yesterday @dennyhamlin in the presentation of the new car to the drivers pleading that the car was to stiff. Data didn’t agree. TIME TO LISTEN TO THE DRIVERS CRASHING THEM! https://t.co/Q9urnlbaWa
— Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) September 30, 2022
As you hear Andy Petree say in this interview when he talks about the industry “I don’t know about the drivers” is very telling as to who has all the say in these processes. NASCAR and the teams. #pickupthepace https://t.co/AQCb1DG8Mr
— Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) September 30, 2022
Joey Logano said the crash testing next week is important to make sure any changes to the rear of the car do not compromise the fuel cell area. He said changes need to be made, but testing needs to be done first. pic.twitter.com/4xeCSaKTlF
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 1, 2022
