Safety Concerns Cast Shadow Over Playoffs, Next Gen at Talladega – Motorsports Tribune

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Since the Next Gen car made its debut in the NASCAR Cup Series earlier this year, drivers have been concerned with the severity of the impacts they have been feeling in the cockpit.

This week, those concerns were amplified even further when it was announced that Alex Bowman would have to sit out of Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway while he recovers from concussion-like symptoms following a crash last weekend at Texas.

Bowman’s absence marks the second driver in the last 10 weeks that has had to sit out due to concussion-like symptoms, with the Hendrick Motorsports driver joining former Cup champion Kurt Busch on the sidelines. Busch crashed during his qualifying run at Pocono in late July and has not returned to driving duties in the weeks since.

Among those that have been the loudest to voice their concerns is Busch’s team owner and veteran driver, Denny Hamlin, who has made his feelings about the safety aspects of the Next Gen car well known over the past months.

Ahead of on-track action at Talladega on Saturday, Hamlin was once again atop his soapbox, trying to get his message across to the sanctioning body that something needs to be done to improve the safety of the Next Gen car.

Hamlin called for a complete redesign of the Next Gen car to alleviate all of the issues that are ongoing with it since its debut.

“The main goal right now for NASCAR is to change the rear clip for the drivers,” Hamlin said. “The car needs to be redesigned. It needs a full redesign. I mean, it can be still be called NextGen, but it needs to be redesigned. I mean, it needs to be redesigned everywhere. Front, middle, rear, the whole thing needs to be redesigned.

“We’ve got a tough Martinsville race coming up. It’s gonna be rough and this thing’s just gonna get exposed about how bad it races. That’s just a part of it, you know, the competition and safety. We’d like to have it all better, but certainly we just took a step back in safety and competition this year.

“You know, it’s tough. We brought up these concerns with NASCAR last winter…We threw up red flags over a year ago and they just didn’t respond. They just kept pushing that the car has got to be on the racetrack at all costs. At all costs.”

In addition, Hamlin explained that the path forward is uncertain until the sport shifts from a reactive mindset to a proactive mindset.

“I…