NASCAR Next Gen car to test Darlington Raceway

Tyler Reddick is set to test the right rear quarter panel of NASCAR’s Next Gen chassis

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Tyler Reddick will unload with the NASCAR Next Gen car. The test will take place at Darlington.

Darlington Raceway is a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. The high speed track is located in Darlington, South Carolina.

Last week, the P3 car was unloaded at Martinsville Speedway. Series officials gathered data with wheel-force transducers.

Austin Dillon was the first driver to test the new machine back in October 2019 at Richmond Raceway. This will be Reddick’s first time behind the wheel of the Next Gen chassis.

Back in February, NASCAR announced that development of the Next Gen car had been completed. They are now in the tire testing phase. Additional tire tests are scheduled for Texas Motor Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway 

The Next Gen car will make it’s debut in the Daytona 500. The car was originally scheduled to roll out in 2021. However, the pandemic pushed back it’s debut to 2022.

To date, we’ve yet to see any manufacture body shapes on the new car. So far, each test has been done with a generic body. Manufactures are currently wind tunnel testing their bodies.

Tyler Reddick

Tyler Reddick - Daytona International Speedway - NASCAR Cup Series
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 10: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #8 Lenovo Chevrolet, poses for photos during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series 63rd Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 10, 2021 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Reddick is a driver known to run the extreme high line around Darlington Raceway. Unlike the current spec, the Next Gen car is fitted with Carbon body panels.

The idea behind carbon is that it bounces back into shape. The currect spec of sheet metal lends itself to crumbling and then cutting down tires. Carbon will allow drivers to beat and bang on each other a lot more.

Or in this case, beat the right rear on the outside wall.

Links

Tyler Reddick | RCR | Darlington Raceway | NASCAR

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