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When the NASCAR racing event started in 1949, what is now known as the Cup Series was called the Strictly Stock division. Since then, a lot has changed, with the cars used in competition having undergone numerous changes from strictly stock cars to strictly race cars.
Recently, many drivers talked about the advent of the Next Gen cars. Some drivers, however, know just how old the technology was in the Cup car up until this season.
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David Ragan, who drives a Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing team, said:
“In NASCAR, we were driving the most souped up high-tech 1970 Mustang that you could ever imagine. I mean, we are basically racing 1960 or 1970 era cars that were stock cars that we dissected every small part and piece to make them the coolest car that we could. But they were still 35, 40 years old.”
Aric Almirola, who drives for the Stewart-Haas Racing team, said:
“The cars that we used to race were a 60-year-old machine that had been just polished and engineered to be works of art. Really, that’s what we were racing. We were racing race cars that we just developed to the minute detail to get everything out of every part and piece to make them works of arts.”
The Ford Mustang car #10 driver compared old and new NASCAR cars, and went on to add, saying:
“I mean they were incredible race cars for being what they were, they were 50, 60-year-old technology, now we have these race cars that are very modern, very sophisticated and when you look at them, they look that way as well. They look very modern and so I think that is a huge difference from what we had to what we’re going to have with the Next Gen car.”
What makes NASCAR's Next Gen Cup cars so different?
The Next Gen car chassis is completely different. The engines are similar to the previous technology and are still limited to 358 cubic inches (5.8 liters), with 550 hp for restrictor-plate racing and 670 hp on all other tracks. Manufacturers designed the car bodies to better represent them, with Next Gen cars appearing more like supercars in GT3.
One of the important aspects with the old car was that it can be balanced to work with oval tracks. The new car, Next Gen, is designed to fit and should all follow straight.
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