The Cook Out 400 race at Martinsville Speedway emphasized the issues that the Next-Generation NASCAR cars face at short tracks. The race had nearly zero clean wheel-to-wheel battles and all the cars seemed to be on the same tire-strategy. Lack of passing and traffic was another major issue the drivers has been facing.
Following the disappointing race at short tracks such as Martinsville and Richmond Team Penske driver Joey Logano demanded a solution to it during his talk on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday. The driver demanded NASCAR to improve the package the Next-Gen NASCAR cars have and added how an increase in horsepower is needed.
My suggestion, the thing I think we should do is we need to get a smaller tire on this car, and I know we can’t do that with the wheels on it...So, do something and do it now. Hurry up. Do it now. Try it. At any point, I think any of us would be willing to go test anywhere and do some crazy stuff and try it. We’ve just got to do something big now. Joey Logano told to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The No:22 also added how drivers are ready to do various tests to solve the issues that the Next-Gen cars face at short tracks. Only time will tell if his suggestions and plea to NASCAR will lead to some big changes and overhauls.
Joey Logano shares further insight into Next-Gen cars’ tire wear and driveability
During the Cook Out 400 majority of the drivers in the top 10 were on the same strategy and run plan. This led to barely any side-by-side action and parity. Following the race, Denny Hamlin criticized NASCAR due to the similarities between everyone’s car in the Next-Gen package.
Joey Logano also agreed and spoke about it during his talk on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The Team Penske driver added that from lap 1 drivers are free to drive how they want, not manage their tires as no one will be able to overtake each other due to the car’s specs.
You go from lap 1, there no like save your brakes, save your this, save your that. Like the spots going to matter because you’re not getting them back, we weren’t getting em back. Joey Logano said.
Although the driver managed to obtain a decent result with his P6 finish he further added how it’s not entertaining to drive without overtaking. A lot of drivers agreed to the issues with the Next-Gen car, only time will tell if NASCAR is able to improve it.
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