UPDATE: NASCAR competition officials said they were pleased with the outcome of a brief Tuesday afternoon test of the Next Gen car at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Kurt Busch drove the prototype at the 1.5-mile track as officials worked to sort through adjustments to some of the car’s components. The model is set to debut in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022, and Tuesday’s closed session marked its first on-track time since a one-day test at Daytona International Speedway last month.
— NASCAR.com —
“We had a successful test at Charlotte Motor Speedway today and were able to validate some work we’ve done since our recent tests at Charlotte and Daytona. We wanted to return to Charlotte with Kurt (Busch) to collect direct comparisons of data and driver feedback. We’re happy with what we saw on the track today.” – John Probst, NASCAR Senior Vice President, Racing Innovation
“I was honored to get a call to come back and verify things from our last test. I haven’t been in our current car since then, so it’s good for me mentally to have that benchmark and be able to explain what the car is doing on the track. It’s great to see the progress from November to January and know that we’re headed in the right direction.” – Kurt Busch
— NASCAR —
ORIGINAL POST 1-11-2021: NASCAR will hold its first Next Gen test of 2021 on Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch will be back behind the wheel in a test that will validate some adjustments that have been made to components of the Next Gen car. Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion, currently drives for Chip Ganassi Racing.
The Next Gen car was most recently on the track last month at Daytona International Speedway with Roush Fenway Racing driver Chris Buescher logging the prototype’s first laps on a superspeedway. Busch and Martin Truex Jr. took part in two days of testing in November on the Roval and oval layouts of Charlotte Motor Speedway. That session marked the first time that two prototypes were on the track at the same time.
— NASCAR.com —