Two days of testing at Daytona for the NextGen

The drivers called up this Wednesday were Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway Racing), William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports), Ross Chastain (Chip Ganassi Racing), Cole Custer (Stewart-Haas Racing), Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing), Joey Logano (Team Penske) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (JTG Daugherty Racing). Bonus to experience since 5 members of this peloton have already triumphed at Daytona: Byron, Dillon, Hamlin, Logano and Stenhouse Jr.

The NextGen is ready to hit the track in 2022 © Getty Nascar

If this is the twelfth testing session for the NextGen, this is only the third time that several cars have been together on the track after a session in Charlotte in November 2020 for only Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr and a three-car test at Martinsville in March 2021. The drivers were able to simulate conditions much closer to those they will encounter in the race with in particular the Draft, an aspiration phenomenon characteristic of races on Superspeedway. The drivers therefore endeavored to understand the behavior of the cars alone on the track or in a peloton and to define the tire configuration for the inaugural 2022 round. The manufacturer GoodYear was able to test different compounds for the new 18-inch tires which will have to resist the enormous constraints suffered on this route where the cars regularly flirt with 200 mph, or more than 320 km/h.

The teams and drivers spared no effort, stringing together series of laps © Getty Nascar

It should be noted that at the end of the first series of laps in Draft the air intake flanges were reduced and the rear spoiler reduced in order to limit the performance of the cars. The mechanics, for their part, were able to familiarize themselves with the single wheel nut, a real revolution for this very conservative discipline.

The unique nut appears at the center of the new 18-inch tires © Getty Nascar

William Byron: “We were able to be really aggressive in this second Draft session and everyone seemed pretty comfortable. »

Cole Custer: “It's a bit like jumping into the unknown, you have to rethink the whole way you run. »

Denny Hamlin: “It's a racing car with four tires and a steering wheel, from my point of view it doesn't change much. »NextGen Daytona

The drivers are reassured about the behavior of the cars in a grouped peloton © Getty Nascar

The first session open to all teams should be organized by NASCAR in October on the Charlotte Motor Speedway track. Two other sessions will follow before the end of the year to allow teams and drivers to familiarize themselves with these long-awaited new mounts.