Its allll about previews this month at Spade Racing—check back every week for a different national touring series preview (Cup, Xfinity, Trucks) with a “Four Corners” flair. Why Four Corners? Well, most oval tracks have four corners, and Spade Racing does four pieces a week during race season (10th Anniversary Season this year!). But before we begin, here’s four big changes to the “Next Gen” Cup cars to keep in mind for 2022:
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| Example of the 2022 Next Gen car (courtesy Nascar) |
1.) The car will receive the normal upgrades that happen with any new generation race car—better racing, cheaper construction, and safer in crashes. So given Nascar’s leadership, expect to see follow-the-leader, skyrocketing costs, and…well, hopefully they got the safety part right—I’d much rather say I was wrong than see a driver hurt!
2.) The biggest visual change is the movement of the car numbers from the “doors” to the old “contingency sponsor” spot just behind the front wheel well. This was done to provide more space for the primary sponsor, but prepare to hear about how moving a decal a foot to the left is going to destroy the sport.
3.) No more five-lug-nut wheels, as Nascar goes from a five-lug 15” wheel to a single-lug 18” wheel. While looking much more like what you’d see on a modern race car, it WILL mean the end of “rrrr rrrr rrrr rrrr rrrr”, as well as allowing less opportunities for a millionaire driver to curse out a crewman making one-tenth of what he earns on the radio.
4.) Under the hood Nascar is expected to use a 670 horsepower engine package for a majority of the races in—what’s that? For the last time, NO, Dodge ISN’T coming back to Nascar! I told you—they’re owned by Ferrari now, and they don’t see the value in it. No, I don’t care what you read on Reddit, it ain’t gonna happen!