Denny Hamlin says NASCAR is working to make the Next Gen car race more like the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series car. He shared an update on this week’s episode Detrimental actions. His comments came after both series aired in Charlotte on Sunday.
Hamlin said the Bank of America 400 shows how much a leader in the world earns.
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“It certainly seemed difficult to pass if it was within 35 laps of the race. Like anyone out there could really go and stretch.”
He said that there were still more forces in the field.
“But there was a lot of transition within him. I mean, I saw a lot of guys come and go depending on the race where their balance was. That’s a great advantage for Ultrices.
Hamlin pointed to the drivers who got out of sight. Christopher Bell led 93 laps, Chase Briscoe led 62, and Kyle Larson led 97 laps.
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“When Christopher Bell came out in front, the boom subsided. Just, man, this is the best car by a mile.” And then Chase Briscoe goes out there, he’s like, ‘This is the best car by a mile.’ When Kyle Larson was on the other side, he was like, ‘Oh, he looks great.’ But in business things are different.
Briscoe hit the bell in 0.029 seconds to win. The race had 11 lead changes between the five drivers. MotorBiscuit harvest the full race.
Hamlin said NASCAR is listening to drivers and fans. The goal, he said, is to reduce the pitch, or rake, that sends cars using the air behind another car.
“I’m not really sure how you’re going to remove that advantage that the car has in the front. I know NASCAR is working hard when it’s trying to get the pitch back on the cars.”
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The work was not simple, he added.
“You know, there are rules that have been changed to make that happen. There are also unknown consequences that they are trying to think through.”
He said the target is the O’Reilly Series platform.
“But you know, more going back to the platform where O’Reilly’s car is. Where the air barrier behind someone is something that happens that you know they’re planning. We’re working on that behind the scenes.”
NASCAR has not officially explained this work. The next-gen 2022 car features a symmetrical body, carbon fiber undertray and a closed rear diffuser. In March, NASCAR’s John Probst announced the sky that series would be “once in” on the higher-horsepower, lower-downforce package of most tracks.
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The O’Reilly Series aired in Charlotte on Sunday night after rain pushed it from Saturday. Corey Day beat Jesse Love by 0.728 seconds.
Larson made the same comparison a week ago. He said he wishes the Cup could look like O’Reilly Series races sometimes. MotorBiscuit covered Larson’s comments on O’Reilly’s cars.