NASCAR confirmed that it will have a Next Gen car test Aug. 24-25 after the weekend races at Dover International Speedway.
It will be the first Next Gen car test since March at Auto Club Speedway. NASCAR moved the Next Gen’s car debut back a year to 2022, citing the challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic. Cole Custer will drive the car in the upcoming test for Stewart-Haas Racing.
This is the only test scheduled for the car at this time, NASCAR confirmed to NBC Sports.
The car was previously tested:
Oct. 8-9, 2019 at Richmond with Austin Dillon
Dec. 9-10, 2019 at Phoenix with Joey Logano
Jan. 15-16, 2020 at Miami with Erik Jones
March 2-3, 2020 at Auto Club Speedway with William Byron
Also, NASCAR confirmed that the IMSA Action Express team had built a Next Gen car and was testing it Monday on the Daytona International Speedway road course. NASCAR stated that this was not a NASCAR test. NASCAR.com reported that Felipe Nasr and Austin Cindric, who won Saturday’s Xfinity race on the road course, were testing the car.
“The Action Express test allows a sports car team to learn about the architecture of the Next Gen car and explore any opportunities to adopt new technologies,” John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president of innovation and racing development, told NASCAR.com. “The test also benefits NASCAR — it helps us check the durability of parts, helps with tire development and gives us data from a road course test.”
