We’re now more than a week into 2023, that time of year when we all have to face the hard truth about those New Year’s resolutions we were all so staunchly dedicated to not so long ago. The gym is already a lot less crowded than it was on Jan. 2, our swear jars already have cash in them and our liquor cabinets are already emptier.
For those who have yet to really get their new year going, though — say, our friends in the mainstream motorsports world — there is still plenty of time to identify a need and dedicate themselves to ensuring that need is met. Or, at the very least, an attempt to ensure that need is met, as opposed to that new stationary bike that’s still in the box and shaming me from the other side of the family room.
We’ve even gone ahead and identified one big new season’s resolution for each of those racing series in 2023. Why? Because that’s always our resolution: helping people whether they want it or not.
NASCAR: Get those Next Gen safety concerns sorted out
It is difficult to recall a NASCAR Cup Series season that began with as much enthusiasm as 2022 and impossible to think of a year that managed to keep that momentum going all the way into autumn. The catalyst for those good vibes and that historically great competition was the long-awaited Next Gen race car.
The one-size-fits-all machines looked unbreakable. Literally. Unfortunately, it proved a little too tough, as the same rigidness that made it so versatile and indestructible surfaced as the cause of season-derailing injuries to some of the sport’s biggest names and drawing criticism for causing everything from concussions to fire hazards. It also caused a rift between NASCAR and its drivers, exposing communication issues that sanctioning body now admits caught them entirely off guard.
The result has been a series of regular meetings with NASCAR executives and the racers. Those discussions spurred an aggressive offseason of R&D work, redesigning the rear clip and bumper to shift the transfer of crash-related violent energy away from the cockpit. Those safety talks have also covered better seats and those fires that seemed to be fueled by large pockets of air within the car.
“When we get to the LA Coliseum (for the Feb. 5 Busch Light Clash) we’re in a much better spot,” NASCAR president Steve Phelps explained in mid-December. “But it goes past the car itself. The…
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