There's been a history of crashes that have had that. The car is okay but the driver isn't rarely. We ever see a driver have a heart attack during a race. I mean the closest to my knowledge. Dean roper's crash in Springfield in 2001
The more I look at it, the more I notice how eerily similar the crash Erik Jones had at Talladega a couple of weeks ago looked to Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. Thank goodness Jones lived through that, I wince every time I see the replay of that hit.
@@nicholastrainssd75m45 Yep defienitly comparable and Erik Jones injury is also comparable to Denny Hamlins back injury in 2013 which still possibly could've happened in the Gen 6 car.
Does anyone remember when Tyler Reddick complained about his vision being blurry and his head hurting during the 2022 Martinsville Playoff Race. This was after multiple cars checked up on a restart and Reddick said his head hit the steering wheel really hard and the back end of the seat. Not to mention the week prior to Martinsville he had a massive hit at Homestead against the inside wall.
It’s no secret that NASCAR definitely took a step back with this car. You can look at Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, and Erik Jones recently. But NASCAR has definitely improved and you can certainly applaud them for that.
I think that they did a pretty good job designing the front-end structure to absorb big hits. Bowman and Busch were because they screwed up the back and. Luckily, they've made strives to fix that. The other injuries were ones that I seriously think would've happened in the previous car. Gragson was a nasty driver-side impact, and Jones was almost a mirror image of Earnhardt
I think Kurt Busch had an injury that he reinjured, he took quite a few hits in a few months. Darlington and Talladega are the first 2 that come to mind
@@samharris3508Dale jr mentioned how odd of an angle that wreck was since he experienced a similar wreck that ended his career in 2016 with hitting with the rear first and snaking the wall with the front like Kurt. The car gets to much criticism in my opinion
This car has hurt nascar badly in my opinion. Numerous injuries and poor product on a majority of tracks. Short tracks are almost unwatchable, and mile and a half tracks is all about dirty air. Love the sport and will always support it, but id like a new car as soon as possible
I'm just scared they'd either just make an worse version of this car or something else that is even worse than this crappy ass car! Gen 6 was fine and 2021 was an interesting season, and the road courses and short tracks were still fun...I honestly HATE 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks, they're boring and unimaginative, and anytime NASCAR makes them not as boring due to rule changes unique tracks suffer.
I think one crash that could've been mentioned is where Kyle Larson got T-Boned by Ryan Preece at Dega in late 2022, while Kyle didn't suffer any injuries, the side of the rollcage (where he was hit) was bent as of result, luckily he was hit on the passenger's side because I don't wanna know what would have happened if Preece had hit him in the driver's side
The driver side has full plated steel across the door bars; its much stronger than the passenger side; however due to that crash they have since added the plating on both sides.
I'm genuinely shocked people are actually defending this piece of junk. Obviously racing is dangerous, and no matter how safe you try to make car, shit still happens. But we've had more injuries in 2 and a quarter seasons in this car compared to the 15 years of the previous TWO generations of cars. We're sitting at about 2.2 injuries/year with the NG vs around 0.5 injuries/year with the gen 5 and 6 (rough estimates). This car is NOT safe, and needs to be scrapped. I would not be surprised if someone died in the NG (God forbid).
When Kurt Busch had his crash, I blamed his other crashes before that crash occurred for his concussion. Like 2021 fall Richmond, 2022 spring Talladega, and 2022 throwback race at Darlington. As for the Cody Ware Texas crash, I remembered being worried sick when it happened. The Bowman concussion should not have happened. The Erik Jones crash was really bad and was really hard. I still think he could’ve gotten injured in the Gen 6 and/or the COT
@@gageb28-95 If you watch the in car of it, it's pretty clear why he got a concussion with how his head moved and how much it moved back and stopped. When it stops the brain still is trying to move and hits the skull. If it's a hard enough impact, it can cause permanent brain damage and even brain cell death. Also previous concussions can play factor in other concussions. Also Bowman used to race midgets years ago in Cali, before he moved to late models so careers in racing is going to equal to concussions. I have experience with last part of that sentence, due to pretty severe flip in a dirt midget. Flipped multiple times, kept hitting directly on the back of the cage. Which was forcing my brain into the back of my skull multiple times. Caused mild to moderate amounts of brain cell death in the back of the brain, although it got some in the front too. Sprint car and midget guys been dealing with the impacts to back of the car, since about the 70's or so. Although with them it's more profound, due to there is nothing to really crumple minus the thin bumper and fuel cell. Also the fact that you're bolted to the back of the cage. If there's not much of a crumple zone, all them forces are going to go directly to the driver. Older cars the rear end was a little longer and would crumple more. So you had a little more space between the back of the driver and the back of the car and it would crumple more, so it was making the forces a lot less when they got to the driver.
having been at gateway for the Gragson wreck, i will be entirely honest, that was likely an injury in most generations of car. that track is decievingly fast and he hit at the worst possible angle at the highest possible speed.
Then they should improve the car itself to have more hp but of course they wont because the listen to corpos then drivers and people who knows a thing or two about cars and good racing
I am thinking the reason the cars are to rigid is the use of square metal for the front and rear clips instead of the tubular metal in previous race cars. Therefore putting more of a force of impact to the driver.
There's plenty of pics online of race chassis from around the world in all kinds of divisions from street stocks, to Trans Am cars, trophy trucks, and everything else. None of them are built like the current Cup car. Any 5 year old can see the difference, you don't need to be a chassis fabricator. I have no idea what Nascar was thinking here.
While the next gen has had its fair share of injuries the past few seasons, the safety of the trucks, especially the past couple years, needs to be addressed as between 2022 and 2023 Spencer Boyd, Carson Hocevar, Josh Reaume, Jordan Anderson, Stewart Friesen, Greg Van Alst, and Daniel Dye have all been injured in trucks with Dye and Boyd’s wrecks in particular being pretty tame compared to Dean Thompson’s wreck at Texas last year where Thompson was ok despite taking a couple huge hits in one wreck.
I appreciate NASCAR fixing its safety issues, but it feels like Major patches for an incomplete game that was rushed out, which is ironic given they had an extra year to figure out all the kinks.
Idk, the car itself is a bit too stiff for what it is. Cause it’s experiencing weird high Gs in places u wouldn’t think of. Take Watkins Glen for example, they changed the curbs in the bus stop chicane and when people were asking why change it, ya get Kyle Larson tweeting out how many Gs he was taking just going over the curbs. When I saw that my mind immediately thought of the Toyota TS010 from the late stages of the Group C era since it was stiff enough to where it produced too much downforce for its time and during testing going into a high speed corner, a small bump in the track was enough to crack the ribs of the test drivers. And it was after it made its debut in the final race of what’s now the WEC in 1991 in preparation for the 1992 season which didn’t see any of these problems for both ‘92 and ‘93. With the Gen 7 to me I think the chassis needs to soften up a bit, or maybe make the car lighter and see if that helps idk if actually lightening the car up would help.
While the cars are safer now than they were a couple of years ago, nascar can't get content with where they're at. Safety should also be evolving, being proactive not reactivate...
Seeing a lot of defense for next gen. Don't agree. The car is way too stiff. That's dangerous. More g force is felt by the driver. It's a horrible oversight especially after the sports most popular driver retired over concussions.
The only defense I've seen is that Kurt and Bowman had crashed before then (not false, especially with Kurt, but also neither were meant to completely excuse the 2022-spec car) and that people are overstating how much it mattered for Gragson and Jones (Gragson did the Nadeau at a track even worse than Richmond to do the Nadeau at after being involved in a lot of wrecks that season too, and Jones's crash had the same problem as the crashes that broke Hamlin's and Almirola's back (and I think Austin Theriault's to, but I'd have to watch that replay). Which isn't even a full defense, more just a statement that especially after mid-2023, it's become a bit overattributed to the car thanks to the scrutiny.
@@K9RacingAndStuff I just think that they need to increase the crush zones make the car a little bit less stiff I know that they're doing it in a way to save money but saving money and safety don't often equal anything good. And if nascar has to fork out more money for them to be able to repair and replace parts on these cars then I think they should happily do it if it means that their drivers are going to be able to sit in their seats all year and not have to deal with fractured vertebrae or concussion.
@@spencerdurham1100 They did soften the rear-impact structure after the 2022 season due to Busch and Bowman. I honestly don't know if Jones is unscathed from his wreck if it was Gen 6. A 70G impact is tough on any back. That being said, I do agree that the car is a bit rigid, and I'm concerned about the day this car goes into a catch fence.
@@spencerdurham1100 ignoring the obvious statement of safety is a compromise of safety (ask me about my opinion on the rear clips), it's one of those deals where the changes, need to also be done in a way that also doesn't require significant retooling of the existing equipment, which is why the first set of changes NASCAR did were what they are. I honestly think the car as it currently is just fine, minus what's going on with the front and rear bumper foam if I had to point at anything. The last time anything really felt glaring to me was the Larson/Preece crash.
While I don't think there will ever be such a thing as a risk-free race or a totally safe car, the injury numbers do seem to be higher than the past in the last few years (and sometimes after seemingly more minor incidents). I think the next gen cars are safer than anything pre-2000, but they have flaws. I remember seeing a crash and thinking "these cars don't give like they used to".
The Gen 7 is bipolar as hell when it comes to the racing product. But as for the safety stuff, well… it is different comparing to 2022. But all I can say is NASCAR fans owe the COT Cup car an apology because it was built for safety with much better racing. I’ll admit, it’s hard to root for the Gen 7, but I’m still hanging on if there’s actually things for the better. Remember, this is a long-term car, so NASCAR better continue to make it as safe as possible! But the fans need to stop blaming the Gen 7 on EVERYTHING when it comes to stuff that isn’t the Gen 7’s fault. Then again, NASCAR fans are stupid and dumb, so I’m not shocked. Hoping the Gen 7 improves safety before the Gen 8 in the future.
There's a HELL of alot of problems in NASCAR right now that are that car's fault and that car's fault alone. The racing sucks, the tires suck, and drivers are getting hurt to the point they miss races or have to retire. I don't fit into your "dumb fan" stereotype, but even the dumbest of NASCAR fans can see it plain as day
@@cdmit27 unfortunately there’s way too many problems with NASCAR whether it’s the awful management, the cars, broadcasting. Still a mess. Also, you seem chill
I think was forgotten and the Kurt Bush and Alex Bowman concussions is that both drivers had some big wrecks and hits prior to their injuries in 2022. Not defending the car as much as providing a little bit more inside what potentially caused their concussions just like DaleJr in 2012. And the one from Lonnie didn’t give him the concussion that wiped him out. It was a couple leading up to it that wiped him out.
I also want to note, Gragsons crash was pretty brutal and slammed driver side against the wall. Crashes like that in the past have ended a lot worse before, I feel he probably would’ve been injured in any generation of car with a hit like that. Also not trying to defend the safety risks of the new car, but his and Jones injuries I think aren’t just from Next Gen issues, they most likely would have in other series. I’d compare Jones impact to Greg Van Alst’s from last fall, and Gragson’s hit to one like Jerry Nadaeu’s. There’s still improvement to be made, but the car is in a much better spot than in 2022.
I was going to make an AMR joke after the comment at 8:56 but Talladega actually employs their own EMS instead of outsourcing it. I’ll save my Ambulance May Respond comments for another track😂
How many times do drivers get out "ok" and just dont say anything implicating an injury? If i could walk and talk i would be just "ok" we still ridin next week!
After what happened to him I feel that Cody Ware got brain damage after the accident and it either went undiagnosed or wasnt openly told to anybody. It explains a lot of what happened to him after the accident. Brain damage does that to people. He was not himself after the crash
NASCAR needs to listen to the ones driving them. And the ones who use to drive them. Kurt Busch could teach them a few things. But NASCAR does not care truely about their drivers they are too busy trying to find something trivial so they can fine the shit out of them and the team. Mark my words, NASCAR won't be around 25 years from now at the direction they are headed. It doesn't have to be.
They literally listened to Kurt Busch and the drivers and softened the rear impact structure... That's why we haven't had concussions due to rear-impacts since the 2022 season.
In my very old school POV, danger has always been “part” of the allure of auto racing… I’m not against safety at all but wealthy drivers aren’t as hungry as those that were racing for their financial lives. I don’t know the answer just an observation from someone that’s followed auto racing for 60 years
They may not be as hungry, but these guys, the newer ones crash and beat the shit out of the cars week in and week out. Unlike the ones that are strapped, or on a tight budget.
the next gen safety since 2022 has dramatically changed in a good way, if the safety was still how it was, then drivers like blaney and jones would have had a much harder time getting out the car than they did. also to mention we have had 3 flips with the next gen so far (with preece being probably the worst) with the drivers walking out primarily unscathed
Erik Jones suffered a injury very familiar to gen 6 cars, also seems like no one talks about how in the truck series there have been more injuries in the past couple years than even cup even though they run less than 2/3 of the races of cup.
Yeah I'll wait till the car actually puts on good races and stops letting drivers get hurt b4 I sing any praises. The whole car is a joke. They should just scrap it and go back to the Gen 6 until they have something better figured out
It's not really a Next Gen problem since several drivers and even if you got injured with Gen 6 car. Does it matter what car or how safe they make it people are still going to get injured sadly that's just a part of the sport.
That's honestly my biggest concern. The car has done okay with rollovers and front-end impacts, but the forces that go through the car with a catch fence crash worry me.
Time to go back to 1993 , everything was just fine till the new generation cars came along, the man who changing all these new cars the from another country is not a NASCAR he's only a formula 1 creator, he doesn't understand about the American sports cars,
Chase Elliott shouldn't be talking about the garbage safety of these cars with what he did at Charlotte last year. He knows about the bad safety yet still puts his fellow competitor head-on into the wall because he barely tapped the wall
@@TedCruz-ng6tl oh sure; the SMT Data showing him clearly turning into the 11 was fake! The fact you think it was an "accident" shows how delusional some of you CE fans are.
He said it before the intentional wreck at Charlotte last year (absolutely deserved to get susoended). He said it the weekend of the 2022 fall Talladega race which he won by the way
I might sound dumb, but would it not make more sense to add padding to the seat and head/neck area? Almost like a memory foam type of material to absorb the jolt from the head.
@@rickrudd Actually the foam isn't as rigid as you think and gives quite a bit, it's meant to do that. If it was too rigid it'd cause more problems and make concussions even worse. Can't be too soft or it's not going to work good enough and the helmet is going to have a bigger chance of hitting the structure of the seat. That's why the foam is several inches thick. It's soft enough to absorb the impact, but thick enough to stop the helmet from reaching the actual seat structure it's self. The goal is to slow the head down as gradual as possible. You're trying to slow down the head and brain together. If the foam is to rigid, it will stop the head pretty quickly, but your brain will still have momentum to it and will impact the skull, which causes the concussion.
@@roymcdre9180 That's a given, the cup car's top speed is faster. It's still not super rigid though. I've dealt with quite a few different sprint car seats, due to racing sprint cars and midgets for quite a few years. Although I know some guys in nascar and been around their seats and was able to see how they feel.
The cars are much safer. The drivers are just not as tough, and not as willing to drive injured. Plus doctors and protocols just makes it where drivers sit out a race or 5, when 25 years ago they would have never sat out. People drove with broken arms, story's of drivers having their hands duct taped onto the shifter because they couldn't grip it with a broken hand. Not today, Chase Elliott clipped his finger nail too short, Nascar had to get a private jet to go pick up his mom to blow on it.
*OPS Cwyn:* Well, we don't blame the fans. *OPS Colin:* I know. But the problem is, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Grant Enfinger, and Corey Heim never drove a 45, 48, 42, or 43 respectively until the drivers got injured. *OPS Brody:* But I did approve of JJ Yeley being in the 51 though. *OPS Xavier:* Even though OPS Rowan O hates Noah Gragson these days, Grant Enfinger being in the car caused me to beat up OPS Zachary P, Cwyn beat up OPS Hayley, Colin beat up OPS Avery, and OPS Peyton is currently hating on OPS Liam right now. *OPS Peyton:* Well, yes. But Colin and Avery still hate each other to this day, just like how I still hate Liam to this day. *Me:* Yes, my OPS' tend to do this when there's a substitute driver that they don't approve of.
I don't know, most of the old school drivers like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are first to say anything about this abomination of a car, just heard Kyle Busch at Iowa blame the DNF on "Next gen parts"
I see a lot of the “NASCAR died with Dale” crowd complaining about the Next Gen safety They must’ve forgotten how Dale died. Injuries are gonna happen, it’s a dangerous sport and we’ve got accept that, but look at Larson’s wreck at Talladega last year, or Preece’s at Daytona. This car is safe Safer than any car before it
"Too stiff" killed a bunch of asphalt modified drivers in the late '80's. The cars looked perfect after a crash, but the driver was dead.
I think 14 time langley modified champion Shawn balluzzo died in 2020 because of that same reason, but idk
@@Double5Racingyea modifieds have always looked pretty stiff imo
There's been a history of crashes that have had that. The car is okay but the driver isn't rarely. We ever see a driver have a heart attack during a race. I mean the closest to my knowledge. Dean roper's crash in Springfield in 2001
@@JmarcusKmart28 yeah thats happened a few times but dean roper is probably the most well known case
For example Corky Cookman
The more I look at it, the more I notice how eerily similar the crash Erik Jones had at Talladega a couple of weeks ago looked to Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. Thank goodness Jones lived through that, I wince every time I see the replay of that hit.
Great observation…
I thought the same thing about the wreck was curious if anyone else was thinking the same thing too.
@@nicholastrainssd75m45 Yep defienitly comparable and Erik Jones injury is also comparable to Denny Hamlins back injury in 2013 which still possibly could've happened in the Gen 6 car.
And whos birthday is today?
@@ROWDYBatrulha The Intimidator's. Why do you ask?
Does anyone remember when Tyler Reddick complained about his vision being blurry and his head hurting during the 2022 Martinsville Playoff Race. This was after multiple cars checked up on a restart and Reddick said his head hit the steering wheel really hard and the back end of the seat. Not to mention the week prior to Martinsville he had a massive hit at Homestead against the inside wall.
The cot wouldn’t have injured anyone look at 00 qualifying at Texas crash if you want proof
Jones at Talladega was a crazy impact, don't really think you can be mad that he was a little hurt
A little? He has a spinal injury... Don't think we should blame the car, but luck played a huge factor in him walking away.
Crazy - the in-car camera of Alex Bowman really made the crash look insignificant.
It’s no secret that NASCAR definitely took a step back with this car. You can look at Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, and Erik Jones recently. But NASCAR has definitely improved and you can certainly applaud them for that.
I think that they did a pretty good job designing the front-end structure to absorb big hits. Bowman and Busch were because they screwed up the back and. Luckily, they've made strives to fix that. The other injuries were ones that I seriously think would've happened in the previous car. Gragson was a nasty driver-side impact, and Jones was almost a mirror image of Earnhardt
I think Kurt Busch had an injury that he reinjured, he took quite a few hits in a few months. Darlington and Talladega are the first 2 that come to mind
Kurt’s concussion was from many wrecks prior and with the angle he hit at pocono he would have gotten a concussion in any generation car
@@adam_tahan_racing.7 That is pure speculation.
@@samharris3508Dale jr mentioned how odd of an angle that wreck was since he experienced a similar wreck that ended his career in 2016 with hitting with the rear first and snaking the wall with the front like Kurt. The car gets to much criticism in my opinion
This car has hurt nascar badly in my opinion. Numerous injuries and poor product on a majority of tracks. Short tracks are almost unwatchable, and mile and a half tracks is all about dirty air. Love the sport and will always support it, but id like a new car as soon as possible
I'm just scared they'd either just make an worse version of this car or something else that is even worse than this crappy ass car! Gen 6 was fine and 2021 was an interesting season, and the road courses and short tracks were still fun...I honestly HATE 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks, they're boring and unimaginative, and anytime NASCAR makes them not as boring due to rule changes unique tracks suffer.
I think one crash that could've been mentioned is where Kyle Larson got T-Boned by Ryan Preece at Dega in late 2022, while Kyle didn't suffer any injuries, the side of the rollcage (where he was hit) was bent as of result, luckily he was hit on the passenger's side because I don't wanna know what would have happened if Preece had hit him in the driver's side
The driver side has full plated steel across the door bars; its much stronger than the passenger side; however due to that crash they have since added the plating on both sides.
jeez i saw the eric jones crash on live tv, i didn't know it was that bad...
I'm genuinely shocked people are actually defending this piece of junk. Obviously racing is dangerous, and no matter how safe you try to make car, shit still happens. But we've had more injuries in 2 and a quarter seasons in this car compared to the 15 years of the previous TWO generations of cars. We're sitting at about 2.2 injuries/year with the NG vs around 0.5 injuries/year with the gen 5 and 6 (rough estimates).
This car is NOT safe, and needs to be scrapped. I would not be surprised if someone died in the NG (God forbid).
I hope no fatal crashes, that would open NASCAR to a massive lawsuit...I'm not sure a major sanctioning body could survive a driver death in this age.
When Kurt Busch had his crash, I blamed his other crashes before that crash occurred for his concussion. Like 2021 fall Richmond, 2022 spring Talladega, and 2022 throwback race at Darlington. As for the Cody Ware Texas crash, I remembered being worried sick when it happened. The Bowman concussion should not have happened. The Erik Jones crash was really bad and was really hard. I still think he could’ve gotten injured in the Gen 6 and/or the COT
I have no idea how that hit at Texas gave Bowman a concussion. Doesn’t add up. Not buying it.
Kurt had some other bad accidents too in 2022
The clash
Bristol dirt race
Atlanta in the summer
@@gageb28-95if you watch his in car driver cam of that wreck, you call tell that rung his bell
@@gageb28-95 If you watch the in car of it, it's pretty clear why he got a concussion with how his head moved and how much it moved back and stopped. When it stops the brain still is trying to move and hits the skull. If it's a hard enough impact, it can cause permanent brain damage and even brain cell death. Also previous concussions can play factor in other concussions. Also Bowman used to race midgets years ago in Cali, before he moved to late models so careers in racing is going to equal to concussions.
I have experience with last part of that sentence, due to pretty severe flip in a dirt midget. Flipped multiple times, kept hitting directly on the back of the cage. Which was forcing my brain into the back of my skull multiple times. Caused mild to moderate amounts of brain cell death in the back of the brain, although it got some in the front too. Sprint car and midget guys been dealing with the impacts to back of the car, since about the 70's or so. Although with them it's more profound, due to there is nothing to really crumple minus the thin bumper and fuel cell. Also the fact that you're bolted to the back of the cage.
If there's not much of a crumple zone, all them forces are going to go directly to the driver. Older cars the rear end was a little longer and would crumple more. So you had a little more space between the back of the driver and the back of the car and it would crumple more, so it was making the forces a lot less when they got to the driver.
having been at gateway for the Gragson wreck, i will be entirely honest, that was likely an injury in most generations of car. that track is decievingly fast and he hit at the worst possible angle at the highest possible speed.
The car is 100% not safe. This is an extremely dangerous car.
Kurt Busch was forced into retirement because of the stiffness of the Next Gen. It is truly a shame.
Eehhh
This is probably why NASCAR doesn't want to add more power to the engine. The driver impacts would be severe
Then they should improve the car itself to have more hp but of course they wont because the listen to corpos then drivers and people who knows a thing or two about cars and good racing
They could easily fix that by keeping working on the cars safety
I got flashbacks with the Erik Jones radio clip to Dale Jr's "help me help me hurry up."
I am thinking the reason the cars are to rigid is the use of square metal for the front and rear clips instead of the tubular metal in previous race cars. Therefore putting more of a force of impact to the driver.
There's plenty of pics online of race chassis from around the world in all kinds of divisions from street stocks, to Trans Am cars, trophy trucks, and everything else. None of them are built like the current Cup car. Any 5 year old can see the difference, you don't need to be a chassis fabricator. I have no idea what Nascar was thinking here.
Eric Jones would have had a broken back in any generation of car (see Aric Almirola in 2015?)
While the next gen has had its fair share of injuries the past few seasons, the safety of the trucks, especially the past couple years, needs to be addressed as between 2022 and 2023 Spencer Boyd, Carson Hocevar, Josh Reaume, Jordan Anderson, Stewart Friesen, Greg Van Alst, and Daniel Dye have all been injured in trucks with Dye and Boyd’s wrecks in particular being pretty tame compared to Dean Thompson’s wreck at Texas last year where Thompson was ok despite taking a couple huge hits in one wreck.
Issue is the car is too rigid in a crash
They have and will continue to add crumple zones.
I appreciate NASCAR fixing its safety issues, but it feels like Major patches for an incomplete game that was rushed out, which is ironic given they had an extra year to figure out all the kinks.
A part of me feels like Bowman hasn’t been the same since the Texas 2022 concussion.
Yep same. It wouldn't surprise me if he eventaully decides to not race another season at some point.
Definitely not. He has changed a lot since then
You’re also forgetting that he missed 6 races last year because he broke his back. That just added to his problems.
If you followed nascar in 2021 and had half a brain….. you knew nascar was covering up NextGen safety issues
Idk, the car itself is a bit too stiff for what it is. Cause it’s experiencing weird high Gs in places u wouldn’t think of. Take Watkins Glen for example, they changed the curbs in the bus stop chicane and when people were asking why change it, ya get Kyle Larson tweeting out how many Gs he was taking just going over the curbs. When I saw that my mind immediately thought of the Toyota TS010 from the late stages of the Group C era since it was stiff enough to where it produced too much downforce for its time and during testing going into a high speed corner, a small bump in the track was enough to crack the ribs of the test drivers. And it was after it made its debut in the final race of what’s now the WEC in 1991 in preparation for the 1992 season which didn’t see any of these problems for both ‘92 and ‘93. With the Gen 7 to me I think the chassis needs to soften up a bit, or maybe make the car lighter and see if that helps idk if actually lightening the car up would help.
While the cars are safer now than they were a couple of years ago, nascar can't get content with where they're at. Safety should also be evolving, being proactive not reactivate...
Seeing a lot of defense for next gen. Don't agree. The car is way too stiff. That's dangerous. More g force is felt by the driver. It's a horrible oversight especially after the sports most popular driver retired over concussions.
The only defense I've seen is that Kurt and Bowman had crashed before then (not false, especially with Kurt, but also neither were meant to completely excuse the 2022-spec car) and that people are overstating how much it mattered for Gragson and Jones (Gragson did the Nadeau at a track even worse than Richmond to do the Nadeau at after being involved in a lot of wrecks that season too, and Jones's crash had the same problem as the crashes that broke Hamlin's and Almirola's back (and I think Austin Theriault's to, but I'd have to watch that replay).
Which isn't even a full defense, more just a statement that especially after mid-2023, it's become a bit overattributed to the car thanks to the scrutiny.
@@K9RacingAndStuff I just think that they need to increase the crush zones make the car a little bit less stiff I know that they're doing it in a way to save money but saving money and safety don't often equal anything good. And if nascar has to fork out more money for them to be able to repair and replace parts on these cars then I think they should happily do it if it means that their drivers are going to be able to sit in their seats all year and not have to deal with fractured vertebrae or concussion.
@@spencerdurham1100 They did soften the rear-impact structure after the 2022 season due to Busch and Bowman. I honestly don't know if Jones is unscathed from his wreck if it was Gen 6. A 70G impact is tough on any back. That being said, I do agree that the car is a bit rigid, and I'm concerned about the day this car goes into a catch fence.
@@spencerdurham1100 ignoring the obvious statement of safety is a compromise of safety (ask me about my opinion on the rear clips), it's one of those deals where the changes, need to also be done in a way that also doesn't require significant retooling of the existing equipment, which is why the first set of changes NASCAR did were what they are.
I honestly think the car as it currently is just fine, minus what's going on with the front and rear bumper foam if I had to point at anything. The last time anything really felt glaring to me was the Larson/Preece crash.
@@K9RacingAndStuff I can agree with that. Just don't like watching good guys get hurt
La nascar n'a pas réellement réglé le problème car c'est le fait qu'elles soient basées sur les voitures de GT qui les rendent dangereuses
They shouldve never went to this car to begin with, everything about it sucks, end of discussion
While I don't think there will ever be such a thing as a risk-free race or a totally safe car, the injury numbers do seem to be higher than the past in the last few years (and sometimes after seemingly more minor incidents). I think the next gen cars are safer than anything pre-2000, but they have flaws. I remember seeing a crash and thinking "these cars don't give like they used to".
It also doesn't help that most of the drivers these days are built like 12 year old boys.
You missed the Preece - Larson side impact from Talladega.
The Gen 7 is bipolar as hell when it comes to the racing product.
But as for the safety stuff, well… it is different comparing to 2022. But all I can say is NASCAR fans owe the COT Cup car an apology because it was built for safety with much better racing.
I’ll admit, it’s hard to root for the Gen 7, but I’m still hanging on if there’s actually things for the better. Remember, this is a long-term car, so NASCAR better continue to make it as safe as possible!
But the fans need to stop blaming the Gen 7 on EVERYTHING when it comes to stuff that isn’t the Gen 7’s fault. Then again, NASCAR fans are stupid and dumb, so I’m not shocked.
Hoping the Gen 7 improves safety before the Gen 8 in the future.
There's a HELL of alot of problems in NASCAR right now that are that car's fault and that car's fault alone. The racing sucks, the tires suck, and drivers are getting hurt to the point they miss races or have to retire. I don't fit into your "dumb fan" stereotype, but even the dumbest of NASCAR fans can see it plain as day
@@cdmit27 unfortunately there’s way too many problems with NASCAR whether it’s the awful management, the cars, broadcasting. Still a mess.
Also, you seem chill
I think was forgotten and the Kurt Bush and Alex Bowman concussions is that both drivers had some big wrecks and hits prior to their injuries in 2022. Not defending the car as much as providing a little bit more inside what potentially caused their concussions just like DaleJr in 2012. And the one from Lonnie didn’t give him the concussion that wiped him out. It was a couple leading up to it that wiped him out.
I also want to note, Gragsons crash was pretty brutal and slammed driver side against the wall. Crashes like that in the past have ended a lot worse before, I feel he probably would’ve been injured in any generation of car with a hit like that. Also not trying to defend the safety risks of the new car, but his and Jones injuries I think aren’t just from Next Gen issues, they most likely would have in other series. I’d compare Jones impact to Greg Van Alst’s from last fall, and Gragson’s hit to one like Jerry Nadaeu’s. There’s still improvement to be made, but the car is in a much better spot than in 2022.
I think Kurt Busch had a previous injury (or concussion) that this reinjured, go look at his Talladega and Darlington Crashes
Let's hope there will never be a repeat of what happened to Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash on 2/18/2001 Daytona 500
Can you do one on some of the recent truck injuries
I was going to make an AMR joke after the comment at 8:56 but Talladega actually employs their own EMS instead of outsourcing it. I’ll save my Ambulance May Respond comments for another track😂
How many times do drivers get out "ok" and just dont say anything implicating an injury? If i could walk and talk i would be just "ok" we still ridin next week!
After what happened to him I feel that Cody Ware got brain damage after the accident and it either went undiagnosed or wasnt openly told to anybody. It explains a lot of what happened to him after the accident. Brain damage does that to people. He was not himself after the crash
Too much technology in the cars, after Dale Earnhardt pass, all the NASCAR are more safer and better than should have left it alone,
I get that Ryan Preece didn't suffer as badly as other drivers from his crash in Daytona, but i still feel that we can't just gloss over it.
NASCAR needs to listen to the ones driving them. And the ones who use to drive them. Kurt Busch could teach them a few things. But NASCAR does not care truely about their drivers they are too busy trying to find something trivial so they can fine the shit out of them and the team. Mark my words, NASCAR won't be around 25 years from now at the direction they are headed. It doesn't have to be.
They literally listened to Kurt Busch and the drivers and softened the rear impact structure... That's why we haven't had concussions due to rear-impacts since the 2022 season.
They might wanna make these cars out of fiberglass that could help maybe release the impacts
This was a great video about the next Gen car
In my very old school POV, danger has always been “part” of the allure of auto racing… I’m not against safety at all but wealthy drivers aren’t as hungry as those that were racing for their financial lives. I don’t know the answer just an observation from someone that’s followed auto racing for 60 years
They may not be as hungry, but these guys, the newer ones crash and beat the shit out of the cars week in and week out. Unlike the ones that are strapped, or on a tight budget.
Hurts drivers, blow their own tires constantly, over rotate in the corners all the time, fans still think they are good cars. 🤷🤦♂️😂
They're the worst race car in NASCAR history, they ruined short tracks and road courses and FYI NASCAR the forward numbers still look stupid AF!
If Ryan Newman had his wreck in one of these cars he me be dead.
the cot was the safest car in NASCAR sad what they have today
And go figure that Pocono race I was going to, it genuinely hurt to hear that my favorite driver was out, I really hate this next gen
the next gen safety since 2022 has dramatically changed in a good way, if the safety was still how it was, then drivers like blaney and jones would have had a much harder time getting out the car than they did. also to mention we have had 3 flips with the next gen so far (with preece being probably the worst) with the drivers walking out primarily unscathed
Erik Jones suffered a injury very familiar to gen 6 cars, also seems like no one talks about how in the truck series there have been more injuries in the past couple years than even cup even though they run less than 2/3 of the races of cup.
Yeah I'll wait till the car actually puts on good races and stops letting drivers get hurt b4 I sing any praises. The whole car is a joke. They should just scrap it and go back to the Gen 6 until they have something better figured out
Agreed...also just a gen 6 car with a gen 4 style body, no spacer would be perfect.
Open wheel cars are now safer than stock cars 😂
The car still sucks
7:46 Erik Jones Spotter: What's Wrong Buddy ?.
7:46 Erik Jones: I Don't Know If I'm Alright.
It's not really a Next Gen problem since several drivers and even if you got injured with Gen 6 car. Does it matter what car or how safe they make it people are still going to get injured sadly that's just a part of the sport.
Get some!
To many drivers injured in this car. This is a step in the wrong direction in safety. A big step in the wrong direction.
Acting like there were not multiple injuries in the past gen 5/6 car
Gonna be scary the first time someone goes into the catch fence
Hate to think it, but I dont think the driver will be walking away, if that happens.
That's honestly my biggest concern. The car has done okay with rollovers and front-end impacts, but the forces that go through the car with a catch fence crash worry me.
They would be 100% dead if it was the first wave of next gen cars, but I bet when that happens, they will be hurt with this wave.
Preece's wreck at Daytona was pretty bad and he survived
Time to go back to 1993 , everything was just fine till the new generation cars came along, the man who changing all these new cars the from another country is not a NASCAR he's only a formula 1 creator, he doesn't understand about the American sports cars,
I know crashes, injuries, and death are part of this sport but hearing Erik in pain is so haunting.
You forgot when Reddick retired from Martinsville from a bump to the rear end on a restart.
Chase Elliott shouldn't be talking about the garbage safety of these cars with what he did at Charlotte last year. He knows about the bad safety yet still puts his fellow competitor head-on into the wall because he barely tapped the wall
He didn’t do it on purpose you’re crazy
@@TedCruz-ng6tl oh sure; the SMT Data showing him clearly turning into the 11 was fake! The fact you think it was an "accident" shows how delusional some of you CE fans are.
He said it before the intentional wreck at Charlotte last year (absolutely deserved to get susoended). He said it the weekend of the 2022 fall Talladega race which he won by the way
Lee Scott Hernandez Anna Harris Carol
They are too ridgid. Like hitting a concrete wall inside a concrete block.
This next gen car still sucks 2 years on. Hopefully nascar can get their head around this and figure it out
Car of Tomorrow: POS
Gen 6: POS
NextGen: POS
We've been stuck in the POS Era since 2008. Don't get your hopes up.
Wow. When drivers hit head on at 200MPH they get injured. Shocking.
this.... like get real
Go ask Michael Mcdowell how he felt after his crash in the late 2000s. He would say I feel fine, and his was at 185.
love your videos! favorite part of my mondays!
I might sound dumb, but would it not make more sense to add padding to the seat and head/neck area? Almost like a memory foam type of material to absorb the jolt from the head.
It's too violent. They have to use more rigid foam.
It's the same reason a football helmet wouldn't be adequate.
@@rickrudd Actually the foam isn't as rigid as you think and gives quite a bit, it's meant to do that. If it was too rigid it'd cause more problems and make concussions even worse. Can't be too soft or it's not going to work good enough and the helmet is going to have a bigger chance of hitting the structure of the seat.
That's why the foam is several inches thick. It's soft enough to absorb the impact, but thick enough to stop the helmet from reaching the actual seat structure it's self. The goal is to slow the head down as gradual as possible. You're trying to slow down the head and brain together. If the foam is to rigid, it will stop the head pretty quickly, but your brain will still have momentum to it and will impact the skull, which causes the concussion.
Larson said the Cup Car foam is wayyyy harder than any dirt car
@@roymcdre9180 That's a given, the cup car's top speed is faster. It's still not super rigid though.
I've dealt with quite a few different sprint car seats, due to racing sprint cars and midgets for quite a few years. Although I know some guys in nascar and been around their seats and was able to see how they feel.
Nascrap is washed up. Now they are jeopardizing driver lives
Drivers need to be tougher like future CUP champion ryan preece 💪👊☝️🧢🕺✊️💰🥒
Dale's hit looked powderpuff. Rip. But we'll see , if someone dies expect change such as 01
The cars are much safer. The drivers are just not as tough, and not as willing to drive injured. Plus doctors and protocols just makes it where drivers sit out a race or 5, when 25 years ago they would have never sat out. People drove with broken arms, story's of drivers having their hands duct taped onto the shifter because they couldn't grip it with a broken hand. Not today, Chase Elliott clipped his finger nail too short, Nascar had to get a private jet to go pick up his mom to blow on it.
NASCAR has stricter rules about driving injured and handing out waivers like candy.
You could teach the little feckers how to drive. That might help.
You try it then
*OPS Cwyn:* Well, we don't blame the fans.
*OPS Colin:* I know. But the problem is, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Grant Enfinger, and Corey Heim never drove a 45, 48, 42, or 43 respectively until the drivers got injured.
*OPS Brody:* But I did approve of JJ Yeley being in the 51 though.
*OPS Xavier:* Even though OPS Rowan O hates Noah Gragson these days, Grant Enfinger being in the car caused me to beat up OPS Zachary P, Cwyn beat up OPS Hayley, Colin beat up OPS Avery, and OPS Peyton is currently hating on OPS Liam right now.
*OPS Peyton:* Well, yes. But Colin and Avery still hate each other to this day, just like how I still hate Liam to this day.
*Me:* Yes, my OPS' tend to do this when there's a substitute driver that they don't approve of.
What is an OPS and who the hell are these people??
Op is schizo posting lol @@cdmit27
@@cdmit27 The OPS is my OC organization.
I wonder how much that driver is being paid to not rag on the pos-gen7 car
I don't know, most of the old school drivers like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are first to say anything about this abomination of a car, just heard Kyle Busch at Iowa blame the DNF on "Next gen parts"
It's extremely scary that Erik Jones' Crash at Talladega was identical to Dale Sr's 2001 Daytona 500 Crash
By golly they made it worse
I see a lot of the “NASCAR died with Dale” crowd complaining about the Next Gen safety
They must’ve forgotten how Dale died. Injuries are gonna happen, it’s a dangerous sport and we’ve got accept that, but look at Larson’s wreck at Talladega last year, or Preece’s at Daytona. This car is safe
Safer than any car before it