Make Room at the Table
Move over Chevy, Ford, and Toyota because you might have company starting in 2023 when more manufacturers join NASCAR’s Big Three. One of the biggest barriers to entry for other automakers is the V8 engine. Many don’t make them and it would be too costly to design an assembly line predicated solely for NASCAR competition.
Chassis development was another mammoth hurdle to overcome but next year NASCAR will release its Next Gen car which will be a spec design that all manufacturers must follow, thereby eliminating the R&D needed to create one’s own chassis concept.
“The difficulty for us, obviously we were super focused on getting the races in. We haven’t had a ton of conversations with other [new] OEM’s during this COVID situation,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps stated.
“They’ve kind of had their own issues. You know, with supply chains and making sure they’re getting vehicles out.”
“When the season ends, we’ll start to restart those conversations,” Phelps stated during the final weekend in Phoenix. “There’s only a certain number of hours in a day. And those have taken a bit of a pause.”
“I think we are actually a more attractive sport today, to a new OEM than we were back in March. I believe that to be true. It’s not that we were not an attractive sport for them to make investments. But I think now, more than ever.”
Around the Oval
Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch took the Next Gen car for a spin at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the early reports on the highly anticipated vehicle were positive. James Small, Truex Jr’s crew chief, stated the overall evaluation of the 2022 NASCAR Next Gen model was positive but there were still a few issues to be worked out.
“It’s an interesting beast. We started off on the ROVAL on Monday and both guys, Kurt and Martin, were complimentary of how well it drove around there.
“They had a lot of fun and then yesterday, we ran in the oval package and there’s still a few challenges and bugs that they’ve got to iron out.”
“But I’m sure they’ve still got a whole year to get on top of it so they’re gonna work hard on that. And hopefully, we end up with a good product in the end.”
Apparently, the power steering system and design is one of the primary concerns but Small is confident that the designers will rectify and improve any issues over the next year before it is rolled out sometime in the near future. Due to the global pandemic, an exact release date has not been announced.
“Just some issues with the steering system you know the tires are different now, the compliance is so different. The feel that drivers get now is very, very different to what they’ve experienced in the past. So just trying to refine that and give them what they need. And in terms of the response from the steering, the power steering system as a whole.”
“Think NASCAR have got some good ideas on how to fix that, I’m sure that will get ironed out real soon. Overall, they had a good time driving over the two days, it’s done well,” concluded Small.
The Great American Race
Valentine’s Day can’t come soon enough because in addition to chocolate, flowers, and romance there will be the best drivers in the world, circling the oval at the Daytona 500. And, of course, sportsbooks are already setting lines for next year’s races including the Great American Race.
Speaking of odds, below we can see what the bookmakers are dealing on the 2021 Daytona 500:
Denny Hamlin: +800
Joey Logano: +1000
Ryan Blaney: +1000
Chase Elliott: +1000
Brad Keselowski: +1400
William Byron: +1400
Kyle Larson: +1600
Aric Almirola: +1600
Alex Bowman: +1600
Kevin Harvick: +1600
Kyle Busch: +1600
Ross Chastain: +2000
Kurt Busch: +2000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +2000
Martin Truex Jr.: +2000
Bubba Wallace: +2000
Austin Dillon: +3000
Christopher Bell: +3000
Matt DiBenedetto: +3000
Chris Buescher: +4000
Cole Custer: +4000
Tyler Reddick: +4000
Chase Briscoe: +4000
Erik Jones: +6000
Michael McDowell: +6000
John Hunter Nemechek: +6000
Ryan Newman: +6000
Justin Haley: +10000
Corey LaJoie: +20000
Ty Dillon: +20000
Brennan Poole: +20000
Daniel Suarez: +20000
Quin Houff: +100000
Timmy Hill: +100000
Cody Ware: +100000
Josh Bilicki: +100000
Joey Gase: +100000
BJ McLeod: +100000
Garrett Smithley: +100000
Reed Sorenson: +100000
J.J. Yeley: +100000
James Davison: +100000
