NASCAR Cup Darlington II
Logano on Next Gen car safety: "I think everyone is concerned"
Kurt Busch’s extended absence from competition and some recent big hits in accidents are prompting NASCAR Cup Series drivers to express doubt about the ability of the Next Gen car to withstand certain impacts.
Jim Utter
Edited: Sep 1, 2022, 7:41 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
“I’m concerned. I think everyone is concerned right now. I don’t see how you could not be,” driver Joey Logano said during Thursday’s Playoff Media Day in Charlotte, N.C. “When you look at competitor’s and your own experiences being brutal in comparison to what the old car was, yeah, it’s going to raise an eye.
“You look at the some of things that have happened – Kurt’s situation, you hear about some of the wrecks from last weekend (at Daytona), my experiences at Charlotte and Michigan at the test, those things are real.
“You can’t hide from that. I’ve put a lot more time into that stuff than I used to than I did with the old car. There must be a reason for it.”
Read Also:
- Hamlin skipping Darlington Xfinity race due to "soreness"
- Kurt Busch withdraws from 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs
Some drivers raised concerns about the car’s safety during its initial testing but last July an independent panel of experts signed off on the car’s safety following the results of a review of crash test data.
The panel consisted of Dr. James Raddin, who took part in the investigation of the death of the late Dale Earnhardt; Dr. Jeff Crandall, who serves as an engineering consultant to the NFL; Dr. Barry Myers, a professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University; and Dr. Joel Stitzel, chair of biomedical engineering at Wake Forest Baptist Health.
There were differences noted by NASCAR with the new car design from the start, however, particularly the likelihood of increased severity of rear impacts due to the shortened rear end of the cars.
Another distinction is the general increase of speed of the Cup cars this season because of a change in the aerodynamic package.
A worrying trend
Busch, who was in his first fulltime season driving the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing this year, was involved in a wreck and suffered a concussion in the final round of qualifying at Pocono Raceway in late July.
He has not been cleared by NASCAR to compete since and will miss the 16-driver playoffs despite having a win to qualify.
Bubba Wallace complained over his team radio following his wreck in last Sunday’s race at Daytona about the hard rear-impact he experienced in his car.
And Denny Hamlin this week announced he would sit out Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Darlington, S.C., to focus on the Cup race while complaining of continued soreness from his wreck at Daytona.
NASCAR officials say they continue collect and analyze all crash data in an effort find areas to improve rear-end impacts. That includes looking at the rear clip, the rear crash structure, the rear bumper and the rear bumper foam.
Asked if NASCAR’s response to driver concerns so far was what he would like it to be, Logano said, “Not until it’s fixed, no. I think that takes time. It’s frustrating that we’re in this position in the first place but it doesn’t seem like everything is added up quite yet to make the best decisions.
“I think the position we are in as a sport is what are the things with this car that make it hurt more when you wreck? And what can we fix? Are there quick fixes or are they fixes that have to happen over time? There is a little bit of both, for sure.”
Despite drivers only recently expressed concerns publicly, Logano said the issue “has been around before the car even hit the race track.
“It’s just exposed to you guys now because there’s a driver sitting out,” he said. “It’s exposed now.”
Still, driver reactions to wrecks have varied wildly.
For instance, in an interview this week, Chase Briscoe said his experience in wrecks were much different.
“For me, I’ve only crashed the Next Gen car, truthfully, twice where I feel like it was a hard wreck, and they were both at superspeedways,” he said.
“Both of them were way better than I thought they were going be. The Talladega wreck, for sure, I thought was going to be way worse from a ‘feel’ standpoint, and I felt fine.”
Even Logano understands there is no “quick, easy fix” to the issues that have been raised.
“I’m not saying the car is not safe. I’m saying it’s not as safe as the old car in some ways. In some ways, it’s safer than the old car,” he said. “In terms of intrusion, I don’t see anything getting inside the car as easily as the old car. As far as rolling over and the cage crushing on your head – I feel way, way, way better about that situation.
“The top 10-percent of the wrecks and the intrusion issues, I feel much better about that. It’s the everyday hits that are more severe than they used to be.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Trip to NASCAR playoffs "validation" for Austin Dillon
Next article 2022 Southern 500 - Start time, how to watch, entry list & more
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jim Utter
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Erik Jones agrees to multi-year contract extension with Legacy Motor Club
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Goodyear's option tires at Richmond "were like Mario Kart with a star"
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
NASCAR: Austin Dillon move was "really close to crossing the line"
Latest news
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 23 min
Five key takeaways from F1's big African Grand Prix reveal in Rwanda
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 1 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 2 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe