Behind the scenes at RFK Racing, where Brad Keselowski leads the charge, the battle for speed has become a game of inches, not miles. As the Gen 7 car reshapes the sport, RFK’s crew chief has offered a rare glimpse into the engineering chess match unfolding each weekend.

With sweeping changes off the table, teams now chase performance through a thousand micro-adjustments, each one a potential difference-maker. And as RFK chases successes and wins, the veteran gives a detailed explanation of why the Gen 7 car is changing the sport.

“It’s easier in some respects,” RFK crew chief sounds off on the Gen 7 car

NASCAR’s Gen 7, officially dubbed the next GEN car, represents a massive leap forward in chassis, aerodynamics , and technology. The next-gen car marked a radical overhaul from its predecessor with a tubular steel frame, enhanced aerodynamic elements, wheel hub upgrades like center lock nuts and revamped fittings for OEM alignment.

The Chevrolet ZL1, Ford Mustang dark horse and Toyota Camry updates came along for the ride. Its goal was to modernize the sport, cut costs and boost manufacturer appeal. This sleek new race car debuted in 2022 and brought with it a fresh set of challenges for teams aiming to stay competitive.

And within this mix, Brad Keselowski’s team finds itself embroiled in a high-stakes puzzle, where success hinges less on one groundbreaking tweak and more on 1000 tiny adjustments, each as critical as the next. The struggle exemplifies how racing at the top of NASCAR has become more about meticulous engineering than bold innovations.

The crew chief of RFK Racing, Derrick Finely, had been tapped as the No. 60 driver; Ryan Preece, in 2025, will move for their expanded lineup. A mechanical engineering graduate from the University of New Mexico, Derek has over 20 years of experience spanning roles like team engineer at DEI, competition director at Front Row Motorsports and technical director at Michael Waltrip Racing. And he has a pretty positive outlook on the Gen 7 car.

Discussing why people struggle with the Gen 7 car, the RFK crew chief said,” What’s made it harder is that we’re not looking for big chunks. We’re looking for tiny chunks. And sometimes distinguishing whether that was a good chunk or a bad chunk when they’re really, really small is difficult. And not only that, we don’t find like one big chunk and all of a sudden get competitive. We find a thousand, you know, pennies to try to make $10. You know, I mean, and that in itself is hard.”

NASCAR teams have learned that fine-tuning the Gen 7 car is less about dramatic leaps and more about micro adjustments, those tiny optimizations that can make or break lap times. One key area is aerodynamic balance. Rear diffusers, hood vents, and the stepped splitters reward incremental tweaks and airflow, yet even a fraction of misalignment can upset the car’s balance, especially through corners.

For instance, teams are permitted small adjustments on wheel components, like increasing tolerances on pin and pilot boards, at specific tracks such as Fontana, allowing them to fine-tune performance within NASCAR’s tight regulatory envelope.

Derrick adds, “But what’s even harder is keeping track of those thousand pennies. You almost need a penny accountant that just sits there because we add this to the bill, we add this to the bill. It’s really easy to have a few drums and a few pennies fall on the floor if you try to find more pennies. And keeping them all in the stack and keeping them all in the car bill is what makes this car really, really difficult. It’s more of a – it’s more tedious. It’s more accounting is how I look at it.”

Another critical adjustment zone is the car’s modular chassis and cooling systems. At Auto Club Speedway, several teams exploited the Gen 7’s design by unbolting and replacing entire rear bumper assemblies after lift-off oversteer incidents, turning what could have been race-ending crashes into manageable fixes. These pennies, measured in structural tweaks, ducting parts and body repairs, required razor-sharp focus and engineering precision to stack up for success in each race.

Finley concludes by saying, “You’re not mining for anything. You’re not going to find that big gold mine. You’re going to find a few little pennies and, boy, you better keep them because if you don’t, now you’re at your own disadvantage. That’s the difference. It’s easier in some respects and more difficult in others.” And now, as both the RFK drivers, Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski, remain winless, Brad has doubled down on his approach to secure his playoff spot. However, the discussion about the Gen 7 car doesn’t end here.

Dale Jr. fires back at Kyle Petty for supporting the Gen 7 car

Kyle Petty has voiced strong support for NASCAR’s current next GEN car, pushing back against criticism from former driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. while many in the racing community, including current drivers, have raised concerns over the car’s performance, Petty believes complaints are nothing new when NASCAR makes a major change.

Speaking on the Performance Racing Network, Petty, who raced from 1979 to 2008 argued that the sport has evolved far beyond traditional stock cars and that fans and drivers need to adapt. He said, “We had one of our prominent members of the NASCAR community, Dale Jr., criticize the Next Gen car the other day. I don’t think that criticism is deserved in a lot of ways. We have not raced stock cars since about 1958. We don’t race stock cars, we race NASCARs. This is the NASCAR car that we have today. People complained in the 70s when they went to tubular chassis. They complained when we went to radial tires. They’ve complained all along as the progression of the cars.”

Dale Jr., however, isn’t convinced. While making it clear, he respects Petty’s perspective. He counted that the next GEN car doesn’t deliver the level of racing NASCAR should aim for, particularly on road courses and short tracks for he believes the car limits the sports potential, especially when it comes to creating thrilling, competitive battles.

He goes on to say, “I really, really respect Kyle, I think the world of him, and I appreciate his opinion. But I would just disagree that the car doesn’t produce what I expect. Again, going back 75 years, I know Kyle’s been around a long time, the car doesn’t produce the kind of racing that I know we are capable of at road courses and short tracks. The car does not produce the type of racing that I think should be our standard, and I know what we’re capable of at road courses and short tracks; and I would not stop at trying to achieve f—— amazing great racing at those style tracks.”

And now it is officially the battle of the giants. With NASCAR considering a future and potential increase in horsepower, it is only a matter of time before we see how it all pans out.