‘It’s definitely a closer field of cars,’ Cole Custer Claims the Next-Gen cars have been successful in bringing the field closer, did it really though?
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Cole Custer
The Next Generation of NASCARs was introduced by the premier stock car racing organization with the main objective of making the grid come closer in terms of performance alongside enhancing safety and attracting more fans. The Next-Gen car has to some degree been able to bring the cars closer especially with smaller teams getting more flexibility in terms of their finances.
Cole Custer who drives the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Cup Series has had a roller coaster of the season so far as he is yet to get into the Top 10 this season while his teammate Chase Briscoe who has the same resources to exhaust under him has secured a win already alongside some finishes in Top 5 which were close calls. The top finish of the season for Cole-Custer this season has been the P11 finish at California earlier this season which is the closest finish he had nearest to the top 10.
Now Cole Custer has come forth claiming that the Next-Gen car has definitely been a success in terms of bringing the track together and making the races more competitive.
Find out what Cole Custer said
Cole Cluster claims that he believes the current grid is definitely a closer field of cars as he pointed out instances where the drivers who start the race are not as good as they wanted them to be they are getting good finishes at the end of the race just because they aren’t that far of the other cars in terms of performance. He went on to say that there are still good cars and bad cars but it’s a tighter box adding he thinks the Next-Gen car has made NASCAR competitive.
“I think it’s definitely a closer field of cars. I think you can see that you’ll have guys who start off the race not as good as they want to be and then they’ll get it better just because there’s only so far off you can be, I guess. There still are good cars and bad cars, but it’s in a tighter box, so I think it’s made it a little bit more competitive,” Cole Custer said.
Cole Custer went on to say that there is teams upfront who was running at the back in the past now competing for wins. He went on to add that the cars are on the edge on big tracks mainly due to the downforce that is misplaced which makes driving harder at the same time more exciting with the Next-Gen cars.
“You’ll see teams that haven’t run up front in the past. I mean, they’re right up there competing for wins, so it’s made it good, I think. As I said, the cars are on edge on the bigger tracks, especially just because you don’t probably have the downforce that you would want when you go to places like that, but it makes the drivers work that much harder and makes for some exciting racing,” Cole Custer added.
Did the Next-Gen cars really bring the field together in terms of competitiveness?
The arguments can be made against and in support of Cole Custer but when we give a look into the winning and pole data of 2022, we can still see the dominance the top teams possess compared to their counterparts. Since the season opener at Daytona, there have been 11 different race winners this season in which Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, and William Byron have won the races twice.
But when we take up the teams who have won the races, Hendrick Motorsports who won the cup drivers championship last two seasons comes top with 5 wins with all 4 of their drives getting into the victory lane followed by Joe Gibbs Racing with three wins from their veterans Busch and Hamlin. Team Penske Racing has so far secured 2 wins while Trackhouse Racing also has two wins with them. Stewart Hass Racing and 23X1 Racing have one wins each with their name.
Other than Trackhouse and 23X1 Racing all other winners belongs to traditional NASCAR giants. The 23X1 Racing has strong ties with JGR making their path to victory clear. The Trackhouse team, on the other hand, is an anomaly considering they are just two years old but the strong financial backing they have from owners Pitbull and Justin Marks is a point to be noted. This is similar in the case of pole wins as all of them belong to the above-mentioned giants.
Though there have been some well-appreciated outings from drivers Such as Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. none of them were able to convert their strong runs to wins In their comparatively weaker cars. So, it is too early to suggest that the Next-Gen car has made the field come closer until smaller teams enter the victory lane.
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Justin P Joy
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