In the races so fare we’ve seen cars with flat tires get stuck on the track
NASCAR has brought a new car into the 2022 season. So far, the new car has brought a good product to the race track for all three races so far.
However, there’s still some bugs to work out. Specifically, when drivers pick up a flat tire, many are unable to make it back to pit road as the car itself bottoms out on the track.
The tires and wheels are much bigger than years prior. This year, when a driver blows a tire and the car rests on it’s rim, many get stuck as something under the car starts grinding the track.
This has resulted in cases where a simple flat tire requires a tow or a push back to the pit lane. That wasn’t the case with the previous car.
The issue is compounded by a lack of backup cars in the garage. Many teams aren’t willing to drive a broken car back to the pit lane and tear up more things on a car that has limited replacement parts.
This issue could be elevated when NASCAR runs their first dirt race with the new car at Bristol Motor Speedway in the coming weeks.
However, it’s an issue that NASCAR is looking into…
NASCAR comments on flat tire issue
“There’s ongoing conversations in meetings to be able to get to a better place on that,” NASCAR VP of Officiating and Technical Inspection Elton Sawyer stated via Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
“We made an adjustment last week at Auto Club Speedway to lead the drivers in and get them back to pit road. Our goal is not to put drivers out of the race. That’s not what we want.”
“We want our stars to be able to perform. It’s just some learnings and we felt that we got to a decent place on Sunday to not like that be a story line.”
“We’ll continue to evaluate that. I know John Probst and his staff are looking at what adjustments we can make on the short term and something that would alleviate some of those issues.”
Related: NASCAR drivers struggle in new Next Gen car with spin after spin (Videos)
