23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin spoke of the advantages and disadvantages of the Next Gen car for a team owner.
NASCAR unveiled the much-anticipated Next Gen models that are set to make their Cup Series debut in the 2021 season. As a part of the unveiling, all the manufactures revealed their looks for the car.
Official: Check out the Next Gen Car looks for all the manufactures for the 2022 season
With the launch of the model, teams will not have to fabricate their own cars from scratch or buy from other alliances but rather purchase the tubular frame chassis direct from NASCAR’s appointed builder Technique Chassis.
Hamlin will not only be driving one of those cars for Toyota but will also be owning the model for his team, 23XI Racing. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver gave his perspective on the new models in terms of cost.
“I don’t think the car is, necessarily, as expensive to build as it is to wreck,” Hamlin said.
“When we currently wreck, we’re building most of the parts or manufacture the parts that we replace. Now, we have to buy that off the shelf and anytime you have to buy off the shelf than manufacture yourself, it’s more expensive.”
He also added that teams might have to make decisions in a different way under certain circumstances considering the cost that a team has to bear for crashing the car,
“As a car owner, I think about this and I’m like wow, boy at these superspeedway races, better make a good business decision if you’re not in contention for the win. Crashing it will, without a doubt, cost more than the current car,” the 23XI Racing co-owner said.
“What we hope is that we save money on the backside, on the development of the parts and pieces that we don’t have to do.”
With a big chance coming up in the 2022 season, it will be interesting to see how the teams and the drivers will cope with this new challenge.