Does NASCAR Need Big Package Changes Before North Wilkesboro?

With another lack luster Next Gen short track race in the books, the rumblings of dissatisfaction with the product the new car has been producing are growing louder.

During the lean years of the 2010s when the mid-sized tracks were average at best, fans and the industry alike could always count on the restrictor plate tracks and short tracks to cleanse the palette and re-energize the base. With a milestone moment coming up next month with the revival of North Wilkesboro Speedway for the All-Star Race, might it be time for NASCAR to take some action to help this watershed event for NASCAR’s 75th anniversary?

This week, Amy Henderson and Wyatt Watson try to out-brake each other in 2-Headed Monster.

Don’t Do it, NASCAR. No, Really. Please Don’t

OK, we all agree that the Next Gen cars haven’t put on the world’s most exciting races on the shorter and flatter tracks. 

It was bad enough last year that drivers requested changes during an off-season test session at Phoenix Raceway beyond NASCAR’s original intent. The final 2023 short-track package features some of those changes. When the package made its race debut at that same track in March, there were some improvements, but the drivers said then, almost to a man, that the changes alone weren’t enough.

So yes, this thing needs some tweaks.

What it does not need is for NASCAR to go full NASCAR and throw everything but the kitchen sink at it at the All-Star Race.

Yes, it’s true that the All-Star event has been used in the past to test possible package changes. As a testing ground, it has some perks: there are no points on the line, but it is a race and that’s a better test than … well, a test. The drivers are going to try to pass each other and will push the envelope, something that doesn’t happen in an open test session.

But hold up here. The All-Star event was, until 2020, held at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. Changes they tried weren’t necessarily immediate ones; some were not implemented until the following year. And they were mainly tweaks to body pieces and suspensions.

The All-Star Race is only a month away, and it’s at North Wilkesboro Speedway, a track that hasn’t seen Cup Series action in decades. None of the drivers are familiar with it the way most were with Charlotte. Most have never driven on it at all.

Did I mention it’s a month away?

North Wilkesboro might have been a good choice of venue to try things…