The Gen-7 car has received criticism from multiple quarters. Names like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have been some of the biggest critics, while fan-favorite Chase Elliott straight up rejected the car. But just like his Martinsville move, Ross Chastain seems to have taken a completely distinct line.

At the NASCAR Awards show in Nashville, the show host asked the Trackhouse Racing driver, “If there’s one thing you could narrow down to say, this is why we were so successful, what would it be?”

“The new car,” said Chastain. “NASCAR and the France family unveiled and rolled out a car that was, in my opinion, the largest reset this sport has ever seen. And in my belief from the very first race at the Beach, there was a better design car, a better build car.”

Ross Chastain waxes eloquent about the Next Gen car

Chastain then explained his views, “You could weld it together different, and as recently as last year with my time in the #42 car… you could design and build a better car. And now we buy the cars, and it’s resetted. And that’s the reason that Trackhouse exists.”

He also spoke highly of his time at Trackhouse, “It’s the reason that Justin Marks and Pitbull and Ty Norris set out on this voyage. And the first time I heard about Trackhouse a few years ago directly involved the new car, and once we got our hands on it during testing last year in the off-season, we knew we had something special.”

“Although Daniel [Suarez] and I speak different languages, we are more similar than anybody could ever imagine in a lot of ways. We both dug in. What’s so cool is that we’re so different, but we fuel each other in unique ways that I’ve never had with my teammates.”

“So I am proud of the effort, but it’s the new car is why we’ve been able to do what we do. And we bought in early. I’m excited for the future. This is our first step at that.” 

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Chastain speaks glowingly of the Next Gen car, but he seems to be the only one to believe in its quality.

Chase Elliott is among the harshest critics of the Gen-7 car

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Chastain is the black sheep amongst NASCAR drivers when it comes to an assessment of the Next Gen car.

Chase Elliott bluntly said, “These types of incidents that result in injuries … I’m not a doctor, but I’ve watched a lot of cars back into the wall and the guy would be fine. No one’s immune to it. It could be me next week. It could be any of my peers or fellow competitors. I just hate to see us go backward, and I’m afraid that we have.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin echoed Elliott’s views. He said, “The car needs to be redesigned. It needs a full redesign. It can still be called Next Gen, but it still needs to be redesigned.” 

He also revealed, “It’s tough. We brought up these concerns with NASCAR last winter. We threw up red flags over a year ago, and they just didn’t respond. They just kept pushing that this car has got to be on the race track at all costs. At all costs.”

The Next Gen car does not impress Kevin Harvick

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick also chimed in with his disapprobation of the car. “Safety cannot be about money. I’ve lived this, man. I watched when we had all the struggle with Adam (Petty) and Kenny Irwin and it resulted in Dale Earnhardt’s (death at Daytona),” said the infuriated veteran. 

“Feet hurt, hands hurt, head hurts and there has to be a better solution. NASCAR has been slow to react and the teams are always worried about money and that doesn’t do anything for the drivers,” said Harvick.

Notably, his criticism had come at the end of a race at Darlington, where his car had caught fire without contact or damage. The fires started underneath the car before entering and burning through the dashboard.

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NASCAR, prior to the Next Gen car’s release, was all about safety. That trend began in 2001 after the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt. Going back is going to be detrimental to the future of the sport.