NASCAR holds final Next Gen test at Phoenix

The next time the NASCAR Cup Series‘ Next Gen cars drive on a track, it will be in a race. Tuesday and Wednesday saw Phoenix Raceway host the seventh-generation car’s final organisational test ahead of its racing début in the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The test came two weeks after another two-day session was held at Daytona International Speedway, where the first points race with the Next Gen car will take place in the form of the Daytona 500 on 20 February. Conversely, Phoenix is the final race of the season on 6 November.

Reigning champion Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first day of testing, while Ryan Blaney led the way in the second. Much of the cars that tested at Daytona returned for Phoenix with the exception of Spire Motorsports, MBM Motorsports, and Rick Ware Racing. RWR’s ally Stewart-Haas Racing sent two cars of its own driven by Kevin Harvick and Chase Briscoe.

It was not an entirely clean session. On Tuesday, Kyle Busch spun in turn four but avoided hitting the wall. Todd Gilliland was not as fortunate a day later as his spin resulted in contact.

“We may have some general ideas, but there’s nothing concrete yet until we go out there and race,” said Joey Logano. “When you say comfortable, I’m far from comfortable. There’s nothing I really know for certain is coming my way.”

“I don’t have, honestly, one thing that bothers me about the car,” opined Daniel Suárez. “That’s my honest opinion, so I’m happy. I’m happy for the change, I’m happy for where the sport is heading, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Multiple tests have taken place of different forms since the car was revealed in late 2019, from the superspeedways of Daytona to the Charlotte Roval, which NASCAR used to set and refine the rules packages that the sanctioning body hopes will properly usher in a new era. And now, it’s time to race.

Day 1 results

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed
1	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	27.329	Leader	131.728
2	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	27.474	+ .145	131.033
3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	27.500	+ .171	130.909
4	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	27.534	+ .205	130.747
5	23	Kurt Busch/Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	27.563	+ .234	130.610
6	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	27.583	+ .254	130.515
7	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	27.592	+ .263	130.473
8	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	27.611	+ .282	130.383
9	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	27.648	+ .319	130.208
10	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	27.743	+ .414	129.762
11	1	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	27.781	+ .452	129.585
12	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	27.784	+ .455	129.571
13	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	27.809	+ .480	129.454
14	31	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	27.848	+ .519	129.272
15	21	Austin Cindric	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	27.894	+ .565	129.060
16	38	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	28.004	+ .675	128.553
17	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.147	+ .818	127.900
18	27	Loris Hezemans	Team Hezeberg	Ford	28.721	+ 1.392	125.344

Day 2 results

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed
1	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	27.292	Leader	131.907
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	27.327	+ .035	131.738
3	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	27.376	+ .084	131.502
4	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	27.413	+ .121	131.325
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	27.457	+ .165	131.114
6	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	27.481	+ .189	131.000
7	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	27.594	+ .302	130.463
8	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	27.607	+ .315	130.402
9	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	27.641	+ .349	130.241
10	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	27.645	+ .353	130.222
11	17	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	27.688	+ .396	130.020
12	23	Bubba Wallace/Kurt Busch	23XI Racing	Toyota	27.705	+ .413	129.420
13	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	27.713	+ .421	129.903
14	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	27.748	+ .456	129.739
15	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	27.781	+ .489	129.585
16	8	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	27.786	+ .494	129.562
17	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	27.826	+ .534	129.375
18	27	Loris Hezemans	Team Hezeberg	Ford	27.928	+ .636	128.903