"These cars are more symmetrical" - NASCAR drivers optimistic about Next Gen cars on the Circuit of the Americas

NASCAR is all set to go bumper-to-bumper and door-to-door with the new NextGen cars on a road course for the first time. The Circuit of the Americas is set to host EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix, the first road course race of the 2022 calendar this weekend.

Drivers feel the new cars will be more at home on the FIA Grade 1 racetrack than in previous years due to their symmetrical design. Coupled with limited practice time in the form of a new format, learning on the fly is going to be key this weekend.

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola spoke further on the topic, saying:

“Now, these cars are more symmetrical. Because of that, it is more specifically designed to go left and right, which suits it very well for road racing. The car is very capable, it handles well, it brakes very well. It’s got much bigger brakes than what we used to have on the old car, so it stops way better and the brake zones are way more compressed.”

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch believes participating in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series support race before the race on Sunday will help drivers. This will allow for more practice on track with the limited time and sim experience drivers go through. He further spoke on the topic and said:

“I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so it will be nice to have some extra track time to work on my car and get some experience and also have just a little bit more knowledge of what it’s like beyond what we do in our sim and other ways we prepare for races and the limited practice time we will have.”

The EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix takes place on March 27, 2022, at 3:30 pm EST.

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Kevin Harvick explains preparation ahead of NASCAR road course races.

Road Course weekends are different from ovals in terms of preparation, says 46-year-old NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick. The Stewart-Haas driver plans to memorize as much as possible ahead of the race in Austin, Texas this weekend. He explains the differences between the two types of tracks, stating:

“There’s just a lot more time that goes into a road-race week, you have to spend a lot of time in the simulator. You have to spend a lot of time with your previous notes and make sure you have the shift points and all the things that you remember as far as curbs you need to hit and things you don’t need to hit, where you need to be on the racetrack, tire falloff.”

Catch the NASCAR EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix this Sunday at 3:30 pm EST.