“They don’t feel any different to me”- Chase Elliott on NASCAR’s short track package and how to improve it going forward

The Next Gen Cup car has certainly seen its fair share of issues since its introduction in NASCAR, with Chase Elliott being the latest driver to recommend changes to the new era of stock car. Introduced in the 2022 season, the seventh generation Cup Series car has suffered from driver safety concerns, driveability in dirty air and, as a result, the racing product on short tracks.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott gave his opinion on the governing body's recent alteration with the short track package. Relying on a substantial amount of downforce from the underwing and diffuser, the Next Gen car has proven to be a difficult car to follow and pass for trailing cars, due to the amount of dirty air it produces.

Dirty or turbulent air which negates downforce elements in a car also seems to affect the new concept more than ever before. Speaking about how NASCAR's attempts at improvements haven't been noticeable, Elliott told sportsnaut.com:

“I missed a lot of the races this year when they took some spoiler away and changed the underbody for the short tracks and road courses and they don’t feel any different to me. I missed the first couple of races, and I came back at Martinsville and it was with that package. If you would have told me that nothing changed, I would have believed you.”

However, Elliott pointed out that the tire test in April in New Hampshire showed him where NASCAR can make progress. He said:

"I thought we made a lot of gains on the tire during that test and it opened my eyes to how much we can make things with just the tire compound by itself and that really surprised me."

Given the previous update's lack of results, at least according to Chase Elliott, it remains to be seen how much further NASCAR can improve this new car's racing product on tracks such as the Martinsville Speedway.

Chase Elliott confident of his chances this Sunday

Despite having missed the first NASCAR Cup Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season due to an injury, Chase Elliott seems confident heading to the track this Sunday. In a recent interview with NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass, Elliott professed that his approach for the weekend remains unchanged. He said:

"I don't feel really any different going into it. Yes I missed the event but I did get to run Talladega (Superspeedway) which is another speedway event. Not the same but similar in a lot of ways. I don't feel behind at all."

Watch Chase Elliott in action at the Atlanta Motor Speedway during the Quaker State 400.