What was said during two-day Next Gen organizational test at Phoenix

NASCAR completed its Next Gen organizational testing schedule Tuesday and Wednesday at Phoenix Raceway. Teams will no longer be provided on-track time before the 2022 season begins. Drivers won't be out of their seats long, though.

The Busch Light Clash exhibition race at the Los Angeles Coliseum is just under two weeks away -- Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. ET. Another two weeks after that is the Daytona 500 -- Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both will air live on FOX.

Scroll to see what was said in the desert about Next Gen's upcoming competitive debut.

William Byron

Driver, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

On whether learning a new race car is like riding a bike: "To some degree, I think. Honestly, there's some differences even in the way that you sit and stuff like that. So, getting used to those things and kind of put yourself in comfortable positions to try to get better is always kind of what these tests are about, trying to learn what you need inside the car and what the balance the car needs to be."

Ross Chastain

Driver, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet

On his Next Gen comfortability level heading into the season: "I want to go to sleep and wake up and just naturally be comfortable with the pit stop, right? Everything else is done. We're just working through setup stuff, so it's just a race car now. They've got all the little tweaks and little problems with it that we’ve gotten worked out. I think now it's just about going fast."

Cliff Daniels

Crew chief, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

On whether he thinks the Next Gen car is ready to race: "Honestly, yes. Like there's nothing that's a big red flag. Did a lot of work with NASCAR over the offseason and all the testing that we've had to keep making changes, which I think had been good. NASCAR has done a good job of, I think, keeping their eyes open and trying to continue to help make it better for everyone. Goodyear’s brought a pretty good tire really, I don't see any problems with the tire. So, it's on us now to make sure the car is comfortable."

Ty Dillon

Driver, No. 42 Petty GMS Racing Chevrolet

On what it's like learning a new race car: "I think the biggest thing is to try to remain open minded. Whether you're meeting new people and personalities and trying to feel things out, it's the same thing with learning a new race car. You're still the same you. You still have the same talent and aspiration. Just your overall surroundings are totally different. So, keeping a patient, open-minded view on the car, not getting to a point where you're so frustrated that you're not really getting through certain aspects and you're not understanding certain things. Just knowing that over time, these things will become second nature."

Chase Elliott

Driver, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

On how he sees teams settling in to the Next Gen car: "I feel like there's going to be a lot change in the first six months of the season. I think people are likely going to go to some of these race tracks and probably not know exactly how they want to build their cars and have their cars trimmed out and what type of aerodynamic package you want to have. And then you're going to get six months into this deal and everybody's going to kind of have an idea of the direction of where they want to go and you're probably gonna see things close up, I would say, in the latter part of the year."

Kyle Larson

Driver, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

On whether he feels comfortable with the Next Gen car: "I mean, I'm ready to race it. I think, just like any race car, you're going to learn stuff throughout the year and tweak things -- whether it be comfort things inside the car or little things like trying to make your brake package better and stuff like that. So, yeah, I feel like we're ready to race. I was happy with the balance of our race car when we unloaded (Tuesday). I'm confident that we can go out there, race and be competitive right off the bat."

Joey Logano

Driver, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

On whether veterans have an advantage or disadvantage with the new car: "We were talking about last night the way we set up a car, and I said you know, Phoenix is still Phoenix. It may be a different car, but things that we've learned over the last 15 years is still there, right? Like what you need in your car and how to run, speed, all those things haven't changed. So there's always gonna be an advantage to experience, no doubt. I don't see that changing anytime soon. But if you're going to be a rookie, now's the time because some of the stuff gets a little bit washed away. But I don't feel like I'm at a disadvantage. I still feel like I have an advantage over drivers with less experience, for sure."

John Probst

NASCAR, senior vice president of racing innovation

On Next Gen closing the gap between small and large teams: "At one of the early Charlotte tests, we had a small team that competes today that normally runs in the bottom three or four, they were P2 in the first practice. I kind of went up to the driver, and you could tell, he was tip-toes happy. He's like, ‘Man, I just can't wait the race this thing.’ It's great. But then you talk to a veteran and they'll be like, ‘Man, he shouldn't be closing up on me. Why is he back there?’ So, there's good and bad, right?"

Tyler Reddick

Driver, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

On the development of the Next Gen car: "It’s very exciting to see in the next couple of years where we go from here with this car, what the future is going to look like, because a lot of work went into it. But it’s no secret the more time you have with a car, the more you learn. It was incredible to see how far this car’s come from its beginning."

Daniel Suarez

Driver, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet

On the strides NASCAR has made with the Next Gen car: "I think everything has been baby steps. I think that everything has been a journey to make the car better and better. You know a lot of people had doubts now six months ago, but I'm 99% sure though those are out of the window right now."

Bubba Wallace

Driver, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

On how long he thinks it'll take to settle into the Next Gen car: "Obviously, the Clash is the Clash, so we’re going to get through that hopefully unscathed and move on. Really start our season at Daytona and get those first five races. Once you get the first five races, you kind of have a good dialogue and a good direction of where your team is, so just kind of grind through it. This car is so tricky. And it's a lot to take in, so every lap on track, I kept getting more comfortable and more comfortable. It's just a matter of time before it all clicks."