‘We’re still adjusting to what the new normal…,’ William Byron’s crew chief Rudy Fugle list out the struggles teams faced with the limited availability of Next-Gen cars supplied parts
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William Byron and his crew chief Rudy Fugle
NASCAR introduced the Next-Gen cars at the beginning of the 2022 season which was aimed at making the sport more competitive and fairer. One of the major features of the cars was the common vendor-supplied parts of the car which gave teams irrespective of their financial status access to more competitive yet cheap parts.
The Next-Gen cars have caused an increasing number of cautions this season as the reliability of the new generation of cars has caused a surge in demand for parts. The team has been ordering new parts or requesting repaired parts to cater to the demand. The supply chain disruptions that have been causing trouble around the following the wake of the Covid-19 and global lockdown have now troubling NASCAR teams as there is a huge demand-supply gap.
Hendrick Motorsports has been among the teams that have suffered from multiple crashes in 2022 and is a team with 4 cars running each race it’s hard to maintain an inventory that can keep up with the demand. William Byron who has been among one of the top drivers of 2022 had some struggles with his No:24 Chevy Camaro ZL1 and now his Crew Chief Rudy Fugle has come forth expressing his opinion regarding the matter at hand.
Find out what William Byron’s crew chief Rudy Fugle said
Rudy Fugle acknowledged that he is kind of more comfortable with the supplied parts than he was at the beginning of the season though it kind of goes in waves. He went on to say that teams are going through a lot of cars in 2022 due to the fact that accidents are more common this year, which also increased the actions rates, as the car damages, flat tires in practice and accidents mid-race become constrain to drivers.
“I’m a little more comfortable than at the beginning of the year, but it kind of goes in waves. There are a lot more accidents this year, so caution rates are up, car damages are up from different things flat tires in practice, and accidents in the race. So, you have a lot of teams going through a lot of cars,” Rudy Fugle said.
He went on to say that it’s more ideal to go for three or four weeks without wrecking the car which can put you in pretty much good shape and will easily turn south if one crashes in the two-three races after that. Rudy Fugle added that though he doesn’t feel great about the situation he believes the team can adjust to the new normal that comes with the Next-Gen cars.
“If you get three or four weeks of not wrecking a car, you can get in pretty good shape, and then you go two or three races in a row of wrecking, you’re back just kind of scraping by. I don’t feel great. Not what we’re used to, but I think we’re still adjusting to what the new normal is going to be with cars,” Rudy Fugle added.
Rudy Fugle went on to say that though they have to race for the win every time they hit the track pushing the limits the team can’t afford to be reckless “We have to race, and we have to win, so we have to push those limits but not be reckless,”.
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Justin P Joy
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