NASCAR drivers, fans upset by NASCAR Next Gen cars during Brickyard 400 at IMS

Some NASCAR drivers − including Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Spire Motorsports pole sitter Carson Hocevar − were frustrated with NASCAR’s Next Gen cars after running the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Fans were also upset after drafting and passing in NASCAR’s Next Gen cars were almost non-existent, which led to a less-than-exciting race in the opinion of many spectators.

Here’s what NASCAR drivers and fans are saying:

NASCAR driver Joey Logano on NASCAR Next Gen cars in Indianapolis Brickyard 400 at IMS

Logano spoke with The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck after the Brickyard 400, asking: “What will it take to see a green-flag pass for the lead here in the Next Gen car?”

Logano was very blunt.

“Probably an Xfinity car … or whatever they’re called now,” Logano told Gluck. “This things … we can’t do it. We can’t get close enough to make a move. You get stuck. Multiple groove track is necessary. This one doesn’t have that.

“It’s forever going to be a Crown Jewel in my mind. It’s forever a special race, and something you always want to say you have a shot at winning. It hurts when you don’t do it. I can tell you that much.”

NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar on NASCAR Next Gen cars in Indianapolis Brickyard 400 at IMS

Hocevar also had some thoughts for Gluck when asked the same question.

“I think we need to slow down. We were so fast in the corner,” Hocevar said. “I don’t know what is.

“I mean, I felt like there were times where I’d get a really big run on somebody, and just the straightaway is not long enough to trump pushing them out, or the lack of air I have. Even if I dive out, the stall when I get out and drag … either we need more draft, or we need to slow down way more in the corner, or have both.

“I just think it’s the second I got clean air, I went a second faster. I got by (Tyler) Reddick and was instantly a second faster, but I wasn’t really fast at the end of the race.”