NASCAR to unveil prototype electric vehicle on race day before 2024 Busch Light Clash

NASCAR's prototype electric racecar is all set to be unveiled to fans as the 2024 Cup Series season kicks off with the exhibition-style Busch Light Clash next month. The prototype in question has been under development by the governing body to explore stock car racing's avenues in the future.

The vehicle is skinned with an SUV/crossover body without any branding from any of the three manufacturers in the sport. Having undergone sanctioned test sessions on two prior occasions at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway, the LA Memorial Coliseum would be the first time it is run in plain sight of the public.

The prototype would be seen running around the LA Memorial Coliseum by NASCAR Cup Series driver David Ragan. Touted to have lights, the prototype, sometimes referred to as the battery electric vehicle/race car, has been clocked within a couple of tenths of an actual Next Gen Cup car.

The same was confirmed by noted journalist Bob Pockrass on X (formerly Twitter):

"NASCAR’s battery electric vehicle that it is developing will do a demonstration run on the Sunday of the Clash. David Ragan will drive it. Big news: Car has lights!! no plans for a series yet; NASCAR also is looking at hydrogen combustible engine."

The car has also been subject to a shakedown of over 340 laps at Martinsville Speedway with David Ragan at the helm of the prototype. Despite the clamour from fans over an all-electric series in the future of the sport, the governing body maintains that its electric testing is a part of the exploration of new technologies for stock car racing.

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Senior NASCAR official on the sport's fuel of the future

Vice President of Vehicle Design, Brandon Thomas, recently spoke about how NASCAR aims to keep all their avenues open in the future when it comes to alternate fuel strategies.

Elaborating on the type of fuel that could power the sport 10 years from now and the battery electric vehicle's significance, Thomas told sportsnaut.com:

"The idea is for us to be flexible and ready to react to what our fans want to see and what our partners want to see. We want to have a coupe, a crossover and a truck as a platform with sustainable fuels and combustion."

He added:

"The NextGen car does project to have hybrid style power but we’ve elected not to implement that to date. But it also has the ability to adopt full battery electric, and aspirational down the road, more hydrogen combustion so that when the time comes, and someone says, this is the car of the future, we don’t have to pull out the pencil and design it. We’ll already have it."

Meanwhile, fans can witness the crossover-style electric prototype going around the LA Memorial Coliseum as the Busch Light Clash weekend starts next month.