Christopher Bell might have ruffled some feathers in NASCAR headquarters last week when he blasted the state of superspeedway racing coming off Talladega. He didn’t pull any punches.
Bell outlined why superspeedway racing in the Next Gen car simply hasn’t been up to snuff, calling it “a suicide mission” and “a complete joke.” He then pleaded with NASCAR to make some serious changes.
“I believe he went on to say that he’s excited about the testing that’s coming up in the offseason,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the Dale Jr. Download. “He’s hoping that’s going to bear some fruit.”
Drivers like Christopher Bell have mostly been united in their criticism of the superspeedway racing package this year in the Next Gen car. Passing is extremely difficult due to the drag on the car, something Denny Hamlin pointed out as a major problem.
That’s part of the reason fuel saving has become such an optimal strategy in superspeedway races. Drivers are trying to put themselves into position to win by capturing every last ounce of track positioning possible late in races.
NASCAR has combated that by adjusting stage lengths. It resulted in a bit of a weird race at Talladega, with the most compelling racing coming in Stage 1 and then the final stage being a bit of a dud.
So Earnhardt, in particular, is happy to see folks like Christopher Bell speaking out. He weighed in.
“I love this. I love people are saying this, because I agree,” Earnhardt said. “I have not liked the Next Gen car at Daytona and Talladega. Don’t like it. I watch the guys race and I can see how frustrated they are with their inability to make a difference.”
NASCAR has already promised to take a look at the superspeedway package during its Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona in January. Will they make a change following the pleas from drivers like Christopher Bell?
“NASCAR has this information and they know it, and they’re going to go test and they’re going to try to figure this out,” Earnhardt said. “I applaud them for their efforts. I’m hopeful and I’m pulling for NASCAR. I’m pulling for all the drivers to rally around the idea of trying to get this right.”