In 2022, the introduction of the new Next Gen car made the playing field more level, leading to different race winners, and an overall exciting vibe in the sport. The nature of last season led to NASCAR’s stock soaring to new highs, something also agreed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee recently reacted to a tweet by journalist Jeff Gluck about the overall fan consensus on the season as being good or bad. A thumping 86.3% of the fans thought it was a good season, making 2022 the highest-rated NASCAR season of the last five years.

Reacting to this report by Gluck, Junior simply wrote, “📈📈📈.”

However, the fans didn’t quite agree with the former Hendrick Motorsports driver.

Many stated that several issues came with the Next Gen car, such as the lug nut problems, the wheel issues, and predominantly the safety aspect, which essentially forced Kurt Busch into retirement and hurt several others. They reasoned that these were some parameters that needed consideration before judging the success of the past season.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. had claimed there were more drivers hiding serious injuries

Two of the most notable injuries in the 2022 season were that of Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman, with the latter himself stepping up to announce that he’ll be stepping down because of his concussion-like symptoms.

This, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr, was not only a rare occurrence but one that should point to a bigger problem in the NASCAR community.

“Here’s my opinion. We’re having more people step up and say, ‘I’ve got a concussion.’ We’ve got Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman who are out of the car this year alone with a concussion, and those are the only two we know about,” Earnhardt Jr. had said.

“Let’s not fool ourselves. Drivers will get a concussion and race with it. It would not shock me if several of these guys got a concussion unknowingly and…continued to race.”

With that said, do you think the 2022 NASCAR season was a good one? Or will it forever be tainted in a bad light because of the injuries caused by the Next Gen car?

Let us know in the comments below.

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