Ryan Newman raised concern about the safety of the Next Gen car saying that it is stiffer than the current Cup car.
The current Cup car has seen the last of it with the conclusion of the 2021 Cup Series season at Phoenix Raceway. The much anticipated Next Gen car is set to be introduced next season.
While there is a lot of anticipation and expectations, the Next Gen car has received a lot of criticism for different reasons. Newman is the latest driver to raise a concern about its safety. Having survived a horrific accident at the finish of the 2020 Daytona 500 and with a career in racing for more than 20 years, Newman knows a thing or two about safety and he doesn’t feel safe getting into the Next Gen car for a race.
“I don’t feel it’s safe. I don’t, after having a career of 20-plus years. Want to go to a racetrack knowing I have a 9 and 10-year-old daughter and answer to myself that I jumped into a car just for the fun of it that wasn’t safe.” Newman said. “… The car was crash-tested; never saw the first thing about it. If it’s good, you show people, right? It’s like a report card. You get A’s? You go show people. You get C’s, D’s or F’s? You just hope the dog ate it or it never came in the mailbox, right? That’s where we’re at.”
Newman is now a free agent after the conclusion of the 2o21 season. While he said that he is not announcing retirement yet, but he doesn’t have anything planned yet for the next season.