How Ford and Toyota's new NASCAR Next-Gen cars might swap the manufacturers' strengths in 2024

In light of the upcoming 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, two out of three manufacturers in the highest echelon of stock car racing have revealed new body styles to be run in competition next year. Despite the massively tightened rules package the Next Gen car adheres to, subtle differences between Ford's and Toyota's newest competitors might be bringing a shake-up in the competition next year.

Ford Performance was the first of the three manufacturers to bring out the all-new Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the public, based on the production car of the same name. Revealed to the public during the first week of November, the new Mustang has an edgy, sharp profile, mimicking the road-going car quite well.

Toyota also joined the bandwagon with the new Camry XE from the manufacturer's racing department TRD. With heavy inspiration from the 2025 Camry XE road car, the new body style sports a rounded profile akin to cars suited to speedways and drafting tracks. Toyota also decided to ditch the Camry TRD moniker, as the XE now sits on top of the sedan's lineup.

With the 2023 specification Ford Mustang known for its prowess on superspeedways and tracks where drafting was key, Toyota's Camry TRD excelled on intermediate tracks.

With the different approaches taken on by both manufacturers to spin their concepts around completely, the 2024 NASCAR season could see a role reversal in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of these new cars.

However, aerodynamic performance is all conjecture up until the actual cars hit the track next year, with NASCAR kicking off the regular season with the famed Daytona 500.

Chevrolet's plans for a new NASCAR body style remain murky

The golden bowtie is the final manufacturer left to introduce a new body style ahead of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. However, with the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1's road-going counterpart going off sale in January 2024, a new Cup car for next year is unlikely to happen.

The sixth-gen Camaro, as it is termed, will be rolled off the factory floor for the final time in January next year, with no replacement on the horizon as of now.

Chevrolet will most probably be using the same 2023 body style going into the 2024 NASCAR season, with a probable change in 2025 as the newer model breaks cover in the car industry.

It remains to be seen whether Chevrolet can manage to remain competitive with all-new machinery from their rivals in 2024.