Watkins Glen recently had a historic weekend in the NASCAR Cup Series. With Shane van Gisbergen getting his fourth consecutive road course win, he’s only the third driver to do that after Jeff Gordon and Chase Elliott. Not just that, SVG is now the winningest rookie in NASCAR’s long history.
Moreso, the Kiwi driver did not just win; he destroyed the field by taking home the checkered flag with over 11 seconds. But despite all this, NASCAR fans aren’t happy, and yet again, it’s the next-gen car in question. However, Elton Sawyer had reassured fans of change.
Would NASCAR Really Bring a Change This Time? Elton Sawyer Opens Up
For a long time now, NASCAR fans have been fed up. One reason for their disappointment is the next-gen car. It’s been criticized ever since its debut in 2022, and four years have passed, but the car hasn’t been able to find a home in the hearts of traditional NASCAR fans. The problem is that NASCAR is focusing too much on parity with the next-gen, which is causing racing to suffer.
The problems with the next-gen car are immense, short-track packages have too little horsepower, and Superspeedways have a poor aero package. Even the road course package is a mess, with braking being too easy in this car, which means there is not a lot of passing in the front.
Look at the recent Watkins Glen. It was pretty much a Van Gisbergen show. No one could catch him once he was in front. In fact, the race only had eight lead changes. All this left the fans demanding a change.
“Our goal is always to just continue to make the product better. I can’t emphasize that enough. We’re not just standing still on what we have.”
“As well as the superspeedways, where we’ve had some exciting racing. We will continue to work in that area on those tracks, as well.” https://t.co/rmEqbRjcYd
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) August 12, 2025
Well, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, Sawyer, has spoken on this. According to him, the racing organization is willing to bring changes.
As reported by Joseph Srigley, he said, “I think we’ve got a product that is good, but as we said last week, we’re always looking to make our product better…Our goal is always to just continue to make the product better. I can’t emphasize that enough. We’re not just standing still on what we have.”
While Sawyer’s words are reassuring, only time will tell if they come to fruition. In 2026, the next-gen car needs big changes. As Denny Hamlin had said earlier, “The car needs to be redesigned; it needs a full redesign.”
Let’s see if NASCAR brings any changes to the car in the future or not.