NASCAR’s Next-Gen or “Generation Seven” car is finally starting to hit the track after a long development process that’s involved multiple outings at different venues across the country. Tested for the first time back in October 2019 at Richmond Raceway, the new car features a number of modern changes—but most importantly—the screaming V8 remains. Exact details of the engine are yet to be released, but we do know one thing: it sounds great.
Thanks to videos posted by those at Charlotte Motor Speedway where the car is being tested, we can finally hear what this beast sounds like. We can certainly tell you the V6 rumors were wrong.
But while the V8 may have stayed with the Next-Gen car, the four-speed stick has not. It’s been replaced with a six-speed sequential. In fact, almost the entire car is completely new, including the chassis, wheels, and rear suspension. It may sound surprising that the big V8 has gone untouched with big changes like that, however, it’s likely that the car now has extra help getting down the track thanks to a hybrid system.
Thankfully for some, that electric hybrid system is gonna be real quiet, although, we’re not sure you’re going to be able to hear much of anything above the thunder that comes out of the tailpipe of this new machine. The launch of this new NASCAR racer has been delayed until 2022 because of obvious reasons, so we won’t be able to enjoy it until that year finally, mercifully comes. We also likely won’t see that hybrid tech until later, according to previous reports.
Until then, we’ll just have to be forced—oh, the humanity—to listen to this car only through speakers and headphones. From where we’re sitting, though, that’s good enough for now.
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