NASCAR officials hail "incredible" Clash debut for new Next-Gen car
NASCAR officials have hailed the first event for the Cup Series’ Next Generation racer as "an incredible day for the sport", following Joey Logano's victory in Sunday's Clash exhibition race.
Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
The non-points event was held at a track other than Daytona for the first time since its inception in 1981 on a made-from-scratch quarter-mile asphalt oval built inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Penske Ford driver Logano held off Kyle Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to win the 150-lap race, which opened the 2022 season prior to the first championship race at Daytona on 20 February.
The Dallara-built Next-Gen car has undergone significant development over recent months, with several prominent figures including Dale Earnhardt Jr describing its arrival as the most significant car change in NASCAR's recent history.
PLUS: How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
NASCAR's executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell said that the new car "wasn’t a story", although a few drivers were forced out of the event by mechanical dramas.
“The Next Gen car really wasn’t a story, and I’m happy for that,” he said.
“This is probably the toughest test we could have on the track that we set up in terms of durability, beating and banging, driveline, different things.
“We’ll learn from that. All in all, really successful debut for the car, as well.
“We’ll kind of look through each and every car, not only those but the incidents we had, impacts on the wall, what broke.
Logano won the first race of 2022 at LA's Coliseum
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
“You saw a lot of cars that historically, if we ran this race last year with the old car, would have been out with tyre rub, tyre damage.
“That’s a positive. Any part or piece we see an issue, we’ll have a big debrief, get on it, fix it. Still a little bit early on that one.”
O’Donnell said he believed “this event delivered” amid significant pressure “on... really the entire industry”.
“I think a lot of us in the industry forgot that we're in a pretty cool sport. It is fun to be a part of.”
The architect of NASCAR's high-profile coliseum race, its senior vice president of strategy and innovation Ben Kennedy, added: “I think [it was] an incredible day for the sport.
“Really proud of NASCAR, the industry, everyone coming together.”
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