North Wilkesboro Speedway returned to NASCAR with the recent All-Star Race. Since 1996, this is the first time the track saw Cup Series cars in action. Although the reception was very warm from the fans, some issues got to play spoilsport.

Also, one of the main points from the race was the dominant performance of Kyle Larson who held his lead to take it first to the victory line. However, despite a massive congregation of fans, drivers, and celebrities at the event, some felt that the race weekend was missing something. NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr has highlighted the Next Gen cars’ inability to adapt to the NWB Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr brings attention to the shortcomings of Next Gen cars

Dale Jr relayed his thoughts on Twitter and was critical of the performance of cars at the NWB Speedway. In a recent tweet after the race, Dale Jr congratulated Larson but also shared that the current Next Gen cars are not ideal for short tracks, adding, “that’s just how these go sometimes.”

Having seen and experienced all kinds of races in his long and illustrious career, he has a peculiar thing to point out after the race—the inability of the cars to run well on short tracks. Although some people have also talked about the track being unable to push cars to their potential, most enthusiasts don’t consider that to be the reason. It has been pointed out that as the Truck Series race was much more competitive than the All-Star Race, it would be wrong to blame the track itself.

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Enthusiasts add their concerns with the Next Gen cars

The public opinion about the race weekend has been clear. The current Cup cars need modifications, particularly when it comes to short tracks. With everything about North Wilkesboro weekend living up to the hype except for the core racing action, the issues have risen in significance.

A certain fan tweeted about the confusion around the design of the car. “I understand the concept of the next gen…..I just don’t know why you let a sports car chassis builder design a stock car. The clean sheet of paper route…rarely works on anything. The composite body is definitely a win, the rest of its a failure.”

A section of fans even defended Larson despite criticizing the lack of competitiveness because of the cars.

“I’ve seen great races get dominated by 1 driver. Larson is not the reason this race sucked. It’s the car. Major changes are needed and they can’t come soon enough.”

“Agreed Jr. Fans should not blame the track. The track has all the ingredients to make good racing. This car though just doesn’t seem to do it.
IMO, the cars have too much grip / aero on short tracks. Narrow the tire, add some weight to the cars + adding hp is where Id start.” 

Despite their efforts, NASCAR needs to address this issue around the Next Gen vehicles at the earliest.

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