“It's tough on the team”: Denny Hamlin gives his verdict on recent NASCAR Cup car changes

The NASCAR Next Gen car's safety issues have been well documented since the seventh generation of the stock car debuted in the sport last year. With constant backlash from the drivers and teams aimed at the governing body regarding the safety of drivers inside the car, NASCAR has finally started to roll out major changes to the fastest nationwide series car.

Having seen multiple drivers like Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman sit out races, or even take an untimely retirement due to impacts in the Next Gen car, the governing body's changes to the structure have been welcomed by the teams and drivers.

Having been designed to withstand abuse and contact better than the previous car, the Next Gen Cup car proved to be a little too stiff for driver comfort and safety.

With the governing body now starting to implement changes to the formula come Charlotte Motor Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin shared his views on what the changes mean for the teams, saying:

"This is part of what we're doing, we keep evolving this car, keep changing it, there's probably more changes on the way so it's tough on the teams. The cost really falls on the teams for the most part so that part of it is tough but it's better for safety so we just got to do it."

The changes to the NASCAR Next Gen Cup car include gusset plates connecting the door-impact bars and removal of a V-brace from the front clip of the car. These changes come after data collection and driver feedback from key impacts over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

"It had surprisingly way more grip than I thought": Ryan Blaney on NASCAR's decision to run wet weather tires in All Star Heat Race on Saturday

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney was one of the many drivers who commended NASCAR on their decision to run the new wet weather tires introduced into the series this weekend. Saturday's Heat Race ahead of the All Star Race on Sunday saw drivers battle it out on the grooved tires on North Wilkesboro Speedway, with positive results.

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney elaborated on the decision in a post-race interview and said:

"I was happy that they decided to do it, give us a shot. It had surprisingly way more grip than I thought it was going to have. I accelerated off of (turn) 2 and I was like 'Oh my gosh!'. I'm happy they did it."

The All Star Race kicks off at 8:00 pm ET on FOX Sports on Sunday, May 21, 2023.