NASCAR announced late Thursday that the rollout of the new Net Gen car for the NASCAR Cup Series will be pushed back to 2022.
"Due to challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic, the debut of the Next Gen car will be delayed until 2022,” said NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation John Probst in a statement on Thursday. “The decision was made in collaboration with the OEMs and team owners. We will continue to develop the Next Gen car, and a revised testing timeline will be shared when more information is available."
Testing on the car has been ongoing since 2019, with plans for it to be debuted in the Daytona 500 in 2021.
The new car has been years in the making, with sights set on eventually lowering the costs of competing in NASCAR’s top tier series.
Among the features of the new car is a shorter rear spoiler, larger brakes and a new body design, as well as moving to 18-inch wheels with a single center lug nut.
The most recent test of the Next Gen car came last month at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California with William Byron behind the wheel.
