Top-five Daytona runs for Eckes, Gray sit differently with each driver

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Terrin Waack

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Had the caution light not turned on right after the white flag waved, Christian Eckes thinks he could have caught and passed Zane Smith for the win Friday night at Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener.

Instead, Eckes finished third — his first top five at Daytona — while Smith was credited with the first victory of 2022.

“I felt like I was in a good enough position with my teammate before he pulled out to be able to make a move coming to the checkered,” Eckes said. “But when he pulled out, I still felt like we had a pretty good shot being second.

“So, at the end of the day, we’re going to Vegas.”

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is indeed next on the schedule, set for March 4 (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Eckes’ teammate, Ben Rhodes, placed second. All three of the top-three finishers led laps at some point, with Eckes leading the way in that small group with nine circuits around the 2.5-mile track out front. Rhodes was credited with six. Smith, three.

“We’ve build a really great team for the 98 with ThorSport Racing), and I’m super happy with everybody on our team,” Eckes said. “I think it’s just a sign of things to come.”

Tanner Gray came in fourth, and part-timer Parker Kligerman rounded out the top five.

Gray’s effort marked his sixth career top-five run in 49 starts. He’s in his third full-time season. Last season, he only had one top five. Season before, he had four.

“Every speedway race that we’ve been to, I don’t think we’ve even finished,” Gray said. “So it feels good to finally finish one and kind of have some luck go our way.”

He really hadn’t completed a superspeedway race before. His two previous Daytona starts resulted in DNFs. Same with Talladega Superspeedway.

“Headed in the right direction so far, but it’s a long season,” Gray said. “Just got to keep on top of things and try to minimize the mistakes on my part.”

Twelve of the 36 trucks did not finish the event running. A large wreck broke out on Lap 99 or 100 that involved 17 contenders, including John Hunter Nemechek, who swept both stages and paced a race-high 50 laps. He turned out 24th on the results sheet.

Eckes was in the lead at the time of the chaos, nearing the finish line, which could have ended the event then all then.

“I thought we were in a good position coming to the white as well,” Eckes said. “Came out little bit short.”

Posted on February 18, 2022February 18, 2022 by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A 17-car incident as the field approached the white flag signaling one lap to go instead sent Friday night’s NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-opener into overtime where 22-year old Californian Zane Smith won under caution over defending series champion, Ben Rhodes.

A nearly 16-minute red flag was needed to clean up all the debris from the frontstretch melee, which happened only a few feet before the start-finish line and littered much of the track’s tri-oval. Had Smith – the leader at the time – crossed the line before the wreck began, the race would have ended. Instead, the remaining cars that were able to continue, continued.

So Smith had to do it all over again. He lined up alongside Eckes for the final two-lap run to the checkered. A sturdy nudge from behind from Parker Kligerman sent Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford-150 to the front and he was able to pull away – taking the white flag before a caution flew on the final lap. He led only three laps on the night – including the important last two.

“It’s something else, man,” Smith said of winning at the iconic Daytona International Speedway. “This place is its own, I’ll tell you that. Literally, my heart hurt during that red flag. I thought we had it.

“Just hats off to this whole group. They’ve really put the work in and it’s so damn cool to see when it pays off. Man, this is going to be a really fun year and I’m going to try and make it a record year for myself.”

Reigning series champion Ben Rhodes finished second while his ThorSport teammate Eckes finished third. Former National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) standout Tanner Gray and Kligerman rounded out the top five. Carson Hocevar, Jesse Little, pole sitter Ty Majeski, Danny Bohn and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10. This was DiBenedetto’s career first start in the series.

Kligerman, who was the last driver to qualify for the race on speed, started 31st and rallied into the top five ultimately giving that winning push to Smith, who now has four victories and was championship runner-up last year. It was the kind of dramatic racing – there were 18 lead changes – and finish that fans have come to expect of Truck races on the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway high banks and it did not disappoint.

RELATED: At-track photos

“This is just huge to get this momentum,” said Kligerman, a part-time series competitor who also does national racing broadcast work for NBC.

He was particularly proud of Friday’s effort considering his truck team has only one full-time employee.

“It’s just such an honor,” Kligerman said. “I’m so grateful to have the chance to just show up here, let alone go out there and compete and reel off a top five. We’re just firing on all cylinders.”

While the ending was certainly exciting, last year’s five-race winner John Hunter Nemechek really dominated the early-going. He led a race-best 50 of the 106 laps and won both Stage 1 and Stage 2. He was caught up in the massive incident while running in the top-five and ultimately settled for a 24th-place showing.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes a week off and then resumes competition in the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 on March 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Note: Inspection in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage is complete. There were no issues. The No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Zane Smith is officially the race winner.

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2022) – Big E, one of WWE’s most versatile Superstars, has been named the Honorary Pace Car Driver for the 64th DAYTONA 500 this Sunday, Feb. 20.

Big E will pilot the “Official” 2022 Toyota Camry DAYTONA 500 pace car, leading the 40-car field to the green flag of The Great American Race, which is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live pre-race coverage begins on FS1 with NASCAR RACEDAY at 11:00 a.m. ET, before the show’s move to FOX at 1:00 p.m. ET. The season-opener for the NASCAR Cup Series gets the green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Possessing incredible strength, unmatched charisma and the power of positivity, Big E, learned the value of hard work at an early age and found success in football and powerlifting before joining WWE. Big E is a former WWE Champion, Intercontinental Champion and United States Championship, and partnered with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston to become one of sports entertainment’s most popular trios, The New Day.

A Tampa, Florida, native, Big E is a former University of Iowa defensive lineman and USA Powerlifting Champion. He actively supports WWE’s bullying prevention program, Be a STAR, as well as the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Big E will be a major part of WrestleMania 38, which takes place over the course of two nights on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 from AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Tickets for the most stupendous two-night WrestleMania in history are still available at SeatGeek.com.

While the DAYTONA 500 is sold out, there are still plenty of exciting ways to experience the pageantry of Speedweeks Presented By AdventHeath with an excited lineup of super-competitive races. For ticket information, log onto www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.

• Friday, Feb. 18: NextEra Energy 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race (7:30 p.m. ET); ARCA Menards (1:30 p.m. ET) and Camping World Truck Series qualifying (3:00 p.m. ET); NASCAR Cup Series practice (6:00 p.m. ET).

• Saturday, Feb. 19: Lucas Oil 200 Driven By General Tire ARCA Menards race (1:30 p.m. ET) and Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series event (5:00 p.m. ET); NASCAR Cup Series final practice (10:30 a.m. ET); NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying (11:35 a.m. ET).

• Sunday, Feb. 20: DAYTONA 500, The Great American Race (2:30 p.m. ET).

** Schedule subject to change

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as the all-new NASCAR Tracks App, for the latest speedway news.

Big E’s participation in The Great American Race was unveiled earlier this evening on WWE Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. Fans can follow Big E on Twitter and Instagram, in addition to WWE on Twitter and Instagram, for behind-the-scenes access at Daytona International Speedway this Sunday.

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Already riding a wave of positive momentum and international attention, Sunday’s 64th-annual Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is again shaping up to be one of the most high-profile, highly-competitive events as it ushers in the 2022 season.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will start his No. 5 Chevrolet from the pole position alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet – leading a field of 40 cars that includes six past Daytona 500 winners, eight former series champions and even a past Formula One world champion in NASCAR’s newest generation of race cars.

The Chevrolets, Fords and Toyotas – aptly referred to as the Next Gen cars – will feature different technical modifications and aesthetic enhancements – from the sequential shifter and 670 horsepower to single center-lock wheel nuts, rearview camera mirror and car numbers now placed behind the front wheels.

The response for the new cars and the sport, in general, has already benefitted from a successful debut at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum two weeks ago. The non-points Busch Light Clash was a nearly sold-out show with some estimates that 70 percent of the crowd were first-time NASCAR race attendees.

The diehards and first-timers paying attention this week at the sold-out annual season-opener at Daytona are expected to be treated to a highly competitive race.

Although Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets have won the pole position in seven of the last eight Daytona races, the multi-championship organization hasn’t won a Daytona 500 since Dale Earnhardt Jr. did so in 2014. The last time a Daytona 500 pole sitter won the race was 22-years ago when Dale Jarrett won the 2000 edition. Hendrick’s former champion driver-turned-team executive Jeff Gordon won from pole in 1999.

More often, this race has come down to the final thrilling laps. That was certainly the case last February when Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell earned his career first NASCAR win taking the checkered flag by inches – credited with leading only the last lap. That scenario has played out frequently in recent years with race winners Austin Dillon (2018) and veteran Kurt Busch (2017) also capturing the win leading only the final lap.

There is only one multi-time winner in Sunday’s race – three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Adding to the drama in 2022 are several new team/driver combinations. Busch is now driving a second car for the second-year 23XI Racing Toyota team owned by Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan. His former teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, Ross Chastain has similarly joined a new team. He’ll team with Daniel Suarez in the No. 1 Chevrolet fielded by TrackHouse Racing, which is co-owned by former driver Justin Marks and musical superstar Pitbull.

Former series champion Brad Keselowski has expanded his presence in the sport and now co-owns the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing two-car team. His involvement with the RFK team – as owner and driver of the No. 6 Ford – has already resulted in two trophies. Keselowski (Duel 1) and Chris Buescher (Duel 2) helped RFK Racing to a sweep of Thursday’s Daytona qualifying races the first time a team accomplished a the feat since 2015.

Kaulig Racing added to its championship-caliber NASCAR Xfinity Series program with a full-time NASCAR Cup Series car driven by Justin Haley in 2022 and a second car that will be shared by three drivers. Erik Jones – a former summer race winner at Daytona – will team with Ty Dillon in the newly formed Petty GMS Motorsports organization.

And first-year NASCAR Cup Series drivers – former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric (Team Penske) and second-generation NASCAR drivers Harrison Burton (Wood Brothers Racing) and Todd Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports) will compete for top rookie honors.

Cindric has the top starting position (fifth) among rookies. The defending Daytona 500 winner McDowell will start sixth after an impressive run in Thursday’s qualifying race. And the 2015 Daytona 500 winner Logano will drop to the rear and have to go to a back-up No. 22 Team Penske Ford after an accident in his qualifying race.

Former Formula One champion and 1995 Indy 500 champion Jacques Villeneuve, 50, and current Xfinity Series title contender Noah Gragson raced their way into the Daytona 500 starting field in qualifying. It will be the first start in this race for both and Gragson’s first Cup start.

Kaz Grala qualified for the Daytona 500 starting field with a dramatic last-lap pass to claim an “open” position available to non-chartered teams based on their Duel race result. Greg Biffle, 52, a former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series champion and perennial Cup Series title contender from 2003 -2016, earned the other 500 position with his finish in the second Duel.

Overall, the qualifying races were run with rave reviews. And the car manufacturers said they have high expectations for Sunday’s race.

As is customary just prior to the season-opening Daytona 500, executives from all three NASCAR manufacturers – Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota – spoke to the media on Friday. All reported being greatly satisfied with the racing to date at Daytona, yet cautioning there is a lot to be learned about the cars and the way they race. Inventory counts remain conservative but all three makes expect that to be changing in the upcoming months.

“For the next few weeks we’ll have to be mindful and make good decisions,” Toyota Racing Development’s David Wilson said. “What we can’t do is ask a driver once he pulls that visor down to mitigate his performance based on concerns about parts. That’s not racing.”

They also pointed to pit strategy as playing a greater role in the race. That was certainly the case in the qualifying races with the Ford contingent taking only two tires on its pit stop to get back out on track in front of the Chevrolets, which all serviced four tires on their pit stop.

“On the surface, I don’t envision 40 cars lined up three by three heading to the finish line. I just don’t think that’s going to happen,” Wilson said. “There’s the potential for more cars to go a lap down or two, but strategy, communication, teamwork are going to be absolutely critical to whomever wins that race on Sunday afternoon.”

Posted on February 18, 2022February 18, 2022 by Staff Report

Reigning Daytona 500 champion Michael McDowell was the fastest man in Daytona Beach, earning the top spot in third practice for Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Ford Performance drivers took up the first six spots in the 50-minute session. McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford was followed up by teammate and NASCAR Cup Series rookie Todd Gilliland in the No. 38 Ford.

David Ragan finished third in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford. Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five after both drivers swept the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing on Thursday night.

Cody Ware, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola and Noah Gragson finished out the top 10.

Wallace and other Toyota counterparts, including Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., paced a handful of laps before taking it to the garage for the evening. During FS1’s broadcast, Wallace indicated that the No. 23 23XI Racing team are done with their practice efforts despite the final practice session scheduled for Saturday morning (10:30 a.m. ET, FS2, coverage moves to FS1 at 11 a.m. ET). Kurt Busch, Wallace’s teammate, also noted that he and the No. 45 team would elect to forgo the last session.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers, including Busch Light pole sitter Kyle Larson, front row starter Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and William Byron took advantage of the time on track, drafting with each other until the conclusion of the session.

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Bozi Tatarevic

Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.

Things heated up as the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying race was coming to a close Thursday night when leader Joey Logano attempted a block on the No. 17 Ford of Chris Buescher, which ended with Logano’s No. 22 Ford breaking loose and going nose first into the wall. The impact resulted in Logano’s car bouncing back from the wall and impacting the right front corner of the No. 21 Ford driven by Harrison Burton. This was our first view of what a multi-car crash at a superspeedway might look like in the Next Gen era, and the results have been encouraging so far.

Driver safety is an integral part of the Next Gen car and Logano shared that he was encouraged by what he experienced in that crash.

“I feel OK. I feel fine. I got out and I feel fine. That’s a good sign,” Logano said. “I hit the wall fairly hard and got out no problem. That part is good if there’s a positive to it. I don’t want to be the crash test dummy, but definitely was today.”

With Logano being released from the infield care center, the attention turned to his damaged car and how his team would help him get back on track as quickly as possible. The decision was made that they would go to a backup car in order to save time over repairing the damaged car. The engine and a few other components that needed to be transferred over were removed from the damaged car to be installed in the backup car, and then it was trucked back to North Carolina.

Once back in North Carolina, the car was stripped down and according to sources familiar with the process, the damage was less extensive than expected with the front edge of the front clip sustaining the brunt of it. In addition to the front end damage, it also had a broken toe link in the right which was the result of the impact with Burton. The toe link break makes sense, as that is somewhat of a sacrificial part since it can be replaced easily but prevents bigger components in the suspension from sustaining damage.

Front clip

The general condition of the No. 22 car points to repairs that could likely be completed in less than a day with the installation of a new front clip and body panels, plus some suspension repair on the right rear. This is promising for the long-term goals of being able to reuse the Next Gen car for many races. In this case, it made more sense to go to a backup car and save a little time since one was available, but that wrecked No. 22 Ford is likely to be repaired in the coming days and make an appearance at a race down the road.

The No. 21 Ford of Burton fared a little bit better as its front right corner impacted the right rear corner of the No. 22 after it rolled back into traffic. This type of impact would have likely resulted in the use of a backup car with the previous generation Cup, but the No. 21 crew decided to complete a repair and the process appears to be better than expected.

Bumper support

As we noted earlier this week, the composite body panels on the Next Gen car are individually replaceable. In this case, the No. 21 Ford required a new bumper cover, fender and hood. In addition to those body components, the Ford also received a new front bumper support, which is the piece that sits between the front clip and the bumper cover. The front splitter that sits below the bumper cover was also replaced.

Outside of the cosmetics, some of the suspension components on the right front corner of the car were also replaced as the wheel had an impact during the incident and may have bent some of the pieces behind it. Overall, it appears to have been a fairly straightforward repair that only took a few hours versus the move to a backup car that we might have seen after a similar impact last year, since the bumper support was not a piece that could be replaced as easily.

This is a promising start for the reparability of the Next Gen car. A superspeedway is one of the toughest environments for a race car, and being able to reuse a car after it crashed at Daytona would often require extensive repairs in the past.

Posted on February 18, 2022February 18, 2022 by Chase Wilhelm

Giselle Zarur has never seen Daytona International Speedway in person until this weekend, but her first footsteps on the hallowed grounds will be historic ones.

When FOX Deportes fires up the airwaves for Sunday’s Daytona 500 broadcast, Zarur will become the first Hispanic female pit reporter to cover NASCAR’s most prestigious event.

“I feel super honored and humbled for these moments because as a Latino woman, I feel proud about it, of course, but I work to be here and I want to make sure I’m not the only Latino woman to do it,” Zarur told NASCAR.com. “I feel a responsibility to embrace more women to follow their dreams no matter where they are or what they want to do. For me, there’s no limits.”

Zarur’s dream to cover sports started at a young age.

Beginning with her middle school and high school days, Zarur began following sports because her brother was a big fan of soccer. The emotions that were brought out of her brother when he watched enticed her to follow along with him, learning how sports bring out passionate feelings.

After realizing the essence of sport, Zarur began following soccer and other forms of athletics. She combined the new fandom with her desire to begin a broadcast journalism career by studying communications during her collegiate years.

The sports journalism path brought her closer to the competition than she could have ever imagined – launching her career at Televisa Deportes in 2010. During that span, she served as a reporter for Mexico’s soccer league Liga MX, tennis, Formula E, WRC and NASCAR Mexico. She also covered Formula 1 for Canal F1 Latinoamérica, the organization’s official network in Latin America.

“The best way to be connected to sports — because I’m not an athlete and I didn’t practice sports and I loved them as a fan — but a good way to be closer to sports was doing sports journalism,” Zarur said. “I started that way, looking for jobs in journalism always in sports. That’s the way the story began.”

Prior to her NASCAR endeavors, the Mexico City native transformed into a seasoned Formula One reporter, covering the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Zarur has also interviewed some of the world’s top athletes in other realms, including Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Mo Farah, Lorena Ochoa, Michael Phelps and Ana Ivanovic.

Zarur is currently an on-air talent for FOX Deportes’ top properties, including Liga MX, NFL and NASCAR. While she’s no stranger to iconic events that previous journalistic responsibilities allowed her to showcase her talents, she is well-versed in why the high banks of Daytona are so meaningful to so many.

“I think Daytona is special,” Zarur said. “I’ve never been there, so it’s my first time going to that race. There’s a lot of emotions together. It’ll be my first time doing pits for NASCAR, my first time going to Daytona, my first time of everything. I’m excited. I can’t wait to see that monster of a track.”

While breaking another barrier to make history is another highlight to her storied career, what’s even more important is the impact she hopes to make for other women who have the same career aspirations. The messages of support from other women on social media also drive her top-notch work ethic in the process.

“I do this because I love it,” Zarur said. “This is my passion. Every time I go to work, I don’t see it as work. I’m just having fun because I love to do it. So, when I read all these things, it makes conscious of the responsibility of each one of my words and each one of my interviews … my word has to be an example for them because if they’re getting inspired by this, I want them to feel motivated, to see that they can do it and to embrace them to follow all the dreams and their goals.”

Zarur also had the chance to cover the Busch Light Clash at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, which put NASCAR in the heart of Los Angeles. After taking in the event, she hopes NASCAR continues to push their limits and think about growth on an international stage.

“It will only help the sport – to make it bigger and to go worldwide,” Zarur said. “It’s opening up different doors and different opportunities for people to see the sport and see how amazing it is. There’s a lot of space to grow for NASCAR.”

When Zarur grabs the microphone on Sunday, she wants to represent and empower women of other nationalities – displaying that those same steps she is set to take on pit road in NASCAR’s most iconic stage will leave a trail of possibility for the next generation.

“There’s someone on the other side that is watching you, so I think I learn also from them,” Zarur said. “I learn because the way they are interested, it reminds me of how I started with it – with this emotion and doing everything with all my heart.

“For me, it’s not that I inspire them, but they inspire me to be better every day.”

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit for the 64th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on February 18, 2022February 18, 2022 by Zack Albert

NASCAR announced Friday that competition officials confiscated the wheels used by Team Penske and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing at Daytona International Speedway.

Officials indicated that the confiscated parts will be brought to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further inspection. Any potential penalties would be determined at a later date after the inspection, the NASCAR memo said.

RELATED: Daytona weekend schedule

RFK Racing drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher swept victories in Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacations Duels ahead of Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

NASCAR officials announced Jan. 24 that a tougher penalty structure would be enforced this season, the first for the Next Gen stock car that debuts in the 2022 Cup Series. The new model uses larger 18-inch aluminum wheels manufactured by German wheel-maker BBS. Those wheels also use a single, center-locking lug nut instead of the five-lug pattern of the former 15-inch wheels.

Posted on February 18, 2022February 19, 2022 by Bozi Tatarevic

Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.

The NASCAR Next Gen car has brought an incredible amount of street-car relevance to the latest generation of Cup Series cars with the implementation of symmetric bodies and the focus on OEM–specific design elements.

Cars on track will look much like what we can find in the showrooms, and that will also extend to the shops as the new composite bodies offer individual panels much like a production car — a departure from the large pieces of sheet metal used in recent generations of the Cup car.

Making the body pieces out of composite materials was only one step of the Next Gen process. The attachment methods analyzed below are going to be very important for races like Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which will have multiple sessions on track before the main race. We are likely to see teams bringing spare parts versus the entire spare cars they might have brought in years past as they can unbolt certain sections if the vehicles are damaged in practice, or more likely in one of the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races as those often end up being as action-packed as the main race itself.

Chassis

Like the outgoing car, the Next Gen car starts as a chassis. The difference now is that it comes in multiple pieces that are bolted together versus one piece that is welded together. The chassis consists of a center section with front and rear clips bolted to it and bumper supports bolted to those pieces. Once the chassis is assembled, there are brackets that are installed with studs on them that are intended for body mounting, as highlighted in the illustration above.

Closeout panels

The first layer of panels that bolt up to the car are the closeout panels, which are not visible on the outside but are intended to seal the center section from the outside along with separating sections like the wheel well from the fuel cell area. These are roughly the equivalent of internal door panels and wheel well liners on a production street car. They help to separate the driver from outside elements and are also used for secondary purposes in some cases, like the pieces at the front corners of the car which have ducting to cool down the exhaust.

Foam

In addition to the closeout panels that get mounted on the chassis before the full body is assembled, there are also pieces of protective foam that get mounted on each side of the car. The purpose of this foam is to absorb energy in the case of a crash in order to make the center section safer for the driver.

Greenhouse

Some of the studs that we see sticking out of the top of the chassis in the illustration above are intended for the greenhouse, which is the top part of the car that contains the pillars, windows, windshield and roof. We can see where the stud from the front left corner of the car matches up to the spot on the A-pillar of the greenhouse, which is marked in red. The greenhouse assembly is a piece that is shared among all the cars and is built with driver safety and comfort in mind as it contains items like the roof flaps that are intended to slow the car down in case it turns, along with ducting for driver cooling. We even got a view of the chassis and the greenhouse being installed onto the chassis in a Corey LaJoie paint scheme reveal video last week.

She’s ready to go out on that race track. She’s gonna be perfect. Can’t thank my friends at @bar_built enough for their continued support. pic.twitter.com/BWffZMQiVG

— Corey LaJoie (@CoreyLaJoie) February 10, 2022

Body panels

Once we move down to the external body panels of the car, things start to look even more familiar and much more like a street car than what we’ve been familiar with over the last few years. Instead of a large piece of sheet metal for the side we now see individual composite components for each piece. In the same theme as their production car equivalents, we see individual pieces for the bumpers, fenders, hood, doors and quarter panels.

Body mounting

The system of flanges and fasteners used to connect the body panels together is so close to what we see on production cars that a standard body shop would be able to assemble these components together. Most production cars feature a system of hidden flanges and captured nuts behind body panels in order to fasten them together and as we can see in the illustration above, the Next Gen car follows a very similar system.

Fender liner

The closeout panels like the fender liner mount to the car in a similar way and attach to nut plates, which are installed in the body panels behind the liner. The hardware for the fender liners is visible which allows for quick removal in case a component behind the liner needs to be accessed after the car has been assembled. These panels are assembled by pretty standard hardware and are mainly held on with 1/4-28 flat head socket cap screws for the fender liner.

Underwing

The body is finished off with the installation of a variety of smaller pieces up top along with aerodynamic components such as the spoiler. The remaining pieces are on the bottom and they form the assembly known as the underwing. The underwing is a flat floor that completely encloses the bottom of the car; it starts with the splitter at the front leading all the way to the diffuser in the rear. Much like many of the other body components, the pieces of the underwing mount to the chassis using 1/4-28 flat head socket cap screws.