NASCAR’s Next Gen car, scheduled to make its debut for NASCAR Cup Series competition for the 2022 season, will be tested at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Nov. 16 and 18. Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. will drive cars both days — Monday on the CMS Roval and Wednesday on the facility’s 1.5-mile oval.
The tests at Charlotte will be the first multi-car tests of the new race car. All five previous tests with different drivers at different race tracks on the Cup Series schedule were single-car tests. Also, Monday’s test will be the first for the car on a road course.
The car was last tested in August with Cole Custer behind the wheel at Dover International Speedway. Testing on the Next Gen Car began in the fall of 2019 but was put on hold earlier this year when NASCAR halted activity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The suspension of testing has delayed the planned introduction of the car. Prior to the pandemic, the Next Gen car was slated for competition in 2021.
