NASCAR Meets with Drivers Over Next Gen Safety

On Saturday morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR held a meeting with Cup Series drivers to discuss safety issues related to the Next Gen car.

The meeting, which approximately lasted for 75 minutes, focused on the planned changes for the car, particularly concerning a stiff rear clip that could have led to Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman being side-lined due to symptoms similar to a concussion in recent months.

Earlier in the week, a crash test was conducted in Ohio. The test results will be used to update the rear clip, bumper structure, and center clip before the next season. NASCAR’s representation at the meeting included league president Steve Phelps and John Patalak, the managing director of safety engineering.

Brad Keselowski, the 2012 Cup Series champion and current co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, expressed his anticipation for ‘some really good stuff coming down the pipeline’ that will enhance the safety of the Cup Series.

Drivers acknowledged the dialogue as productive, but also intense. Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick were reportedly at the forefront, representing the driver’s viewpoint. Over the past several months, they have been among the most critical.

Keselowski commented, “Everyone voiced their opinions. It was somewhat like a Festivus. But that’s alright, sometimes we need that.”

Christopher Bell, a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, stated that the majority of the proceedings were taken up by conversation after NASCAR only managed to present two slides of their presentation.

“Bell stated, “I believe they had many more slides to present to us, but we ended up engrossed in open discussion which consumed most of the time. They did manage to show us the crash data from Wednesday, which was beneficial for the driver.”

Chase Elliott, the 2020 champion, abandoned his typically reserved demeanor last weekend at Talladega, calling for car modifications. He stated that the meeting addressed many of his concerns.

Elliott expressed, “I believe they comprehend the situation. They’ve been extremely transparent about their efforts and their attempts to assist, which is reassuring. I do wish we could’ve had this kind of discussion a bit earlier, but I’m glad we finally did. I appreciate it and I’m positive about the direction we’re taking. Now, let’s work on improving it.”

The primary safety concern with the new car is its increased stiffness, which prevents effective dissipation of energy throughout the vehicle. As a result, the driver absorbs most of the impact, leading to a rise in injuries this season. This issue is exemplified by Cody Shane Ware, who has been sidelined for the weekend at the Roval after sustaining an ankle injury in a crash at Texas Motor Speedway.

“Bell stated, “We simply desire to feel less impact within the car. Observing crashes from the outside, it appears as though nothing is happening. It seems our body is taking on most of the impact rather than the car. We just want the car to bear more of this impact so we don’t absorb as much.”

Our current position is due to the car being significantly stiffer and more solid than the one we had last year.

This past week’s crash test yielded rear impact results that were less severe than earlier this season, but still more severe than the previous car generation.

The 2021 Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, expressed empathy for NASCAR’s predicament, acknowledging that making changes isn’t simple without a significant overhaul of the car’s rear — a suggestion that Hamlin had made the previous weekend.

“But they are confined due to the shorter rear of this car compared to the previous one,” said Larson. “They had other priorities such as preventing intrusion and maintaining the fuel cell. So, they are in a kind of constraint.”

NASCAR has expressed willingness to convene with the drivers again on Sunday morning to review the rest of the presentation and further the discussion.

Joey Logano, who won the Cup Series in 2018, expressed disappointment that NASCAR only started seriously communicating with drivers after they turned to the media. Drivers often complain that they’re left out of conversations between team owners and NASCAR.

Driver-owners Keselowski and Hamlin have supported that.

"Yeah, I feel much better," Logano said. "I feel like the meeting was very open and honest, which I feel like was necessary for all the drivers to get some things off their chest and their real concerns of what we’ve been going through and the experiences from inside the car.

It’s frustrating that the meeting took an unnecessarily long time to be arranged. Ideally, it should have been held right after Kurt’s accident, instead of waiting until after Alex’s incident and at least listened to our perspective. I’m not implying that they weren’t addressing the issue following Kurt’s accident. However, face-to-face communication is crucial.

You members of the media understand; you’re right here. We used to conduct media sessions via Zoom. Can you honestly say that these Zoom calls equated to in-person interactions? No, you can’t claim that those interviews hold a candle to face-to-face ones. The same applies when discussing life in a race car. It’s far more significant and we should be having these meetings in person frequently, not just when absolutely necessary. I believe this message has been received and understood.

After the meeting on Saturday, Hamlin was noticeably more restrained than he had been throughout the summer. He essentially expressed that he has voiced his opinions, and it’s now time for other drivers to offer their perspectives, something that has been occurring over the last two weeks.

Hamlin stated that he thinks his outspokenness over the past two weeks likely induced some of that urgency.

“Perhaps it did contribute in that regard,” said Hamlin. “Certainly, in this scenario, it aided by creating a sense of urgency when we started discussing this topic.”

Hamlin stated that he was available to meet with NASCAR on Sunday or at any other time they wished to proceed with the process. However, he emphasized that the next phase was focused on generating results concerning the issue.

“Currently, I believe I’ve expressed all I can about the safety issue,” stated Hamlin. “I wouldn’t alter anything, but now we await the results. We’ve listened to their plans and now it’s a waiting game to see the outcomes in the coming three to six months.”

Logano also echoed that sentiment.

“Ensuring their honesty is crucial now,” Logano stated. “The meeting resulted from this, and I hope it wasn’t solely because a few drivers expressed their anger in the media. I hope that’s not the way we instigate change in our sport. I believe we’re capable of better than that.”

I hope we can rise above that, but as I mentioned earlier, our emotions can sometimes compel us to react in ways we wouldn’t typically. It’s not necessarily a negative thing, as on occasion, we need to express ourselves strongly to effect change and ensure our voice is heard. It appears that this approach did indeed instigate some sort of change.