Change. It is inevitable and often ironic. The calendar has changed to 2013 despite the best efforts by Mayans and “ancient aliens”. The wheel keeps turning. It’s round. That is its only real job, after all.
NASCAR, however, has thrown the wheels of change into a blender and hit the “All In” button. It wasn’t all “NASCAR”, per se, but the results leading to the first green flag of 2013 leave the previous season well in the shadows.
For instance, Brad Keselowski drives a Dodge with Penske Racing and Miller Lite to the championship. Fairly early in the 2012 season, Dodge introduced a 2013 version of the car. However, Dodge pulled their support for 2013 NASCAR as the “Chase” began to shape up. A Dodge wins the “Cup” and goes to moth balls. Ironic? Tragic? Economy of choice?
Dodge has a plan somewhere. We’re sure of it. Sort of…
With that exit, there was a bit of a scramble for Penske to find a new shell. This while NASCAR was in the midst of complete makeovers for the new season. The “Gen-6” car is set moving further towards the showroom versions of the vehicles they represent. It is, in many ways, a shift back to the origins of NASCAR with “stock” cars modified for racing.
The new cars will be represented by Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota. It is a combined effort as the manufacturers also have their consumer models designed with the competitive aspects required for NASCAR to be able to keep everyone competitive. The previous cars held some of the lines of the showroom but the only real separation were the numbers, sponsors and the manufacturer logos. The “Gen-6” cars should show further distinction for fans to recognize a “Camry”, a “Fusion” and the “Chevy SS” as more of the shell is comprised of panels delivered by the manufacturer.
If you are a diecast collector, you might want to examine your shelf space and your cash flow…
They are still working out some details with more rounds of track testing before the teams start the official season at Daytona. So far, the teams and drivers have embraced the “Gen-6” and are ready to go racing.
For fans, however, there is a little bit of a learning curve to catch up with who is where. For most, their is little to do. Some sponsors may have changed so a new hat may be in order. However, if your guy was in a Dodge last season you may want to freshen up. It shouldn’t be too difficult. It was only Penske running them.
Penske is now running with Ford. Defending champion Keselowski stays in the #2. Joey Logano fans will need some new gear. Logano is in Penske’s #22 Pennzoil / Shell Ford Fusion, moving from Gibb’s #20 Toyota.
The #20 is now in the hands of Matt Kenseth with Husky and Dollar General on the sponsor board. Kenseth moves from the Rousch-Fenway #17 Ford.
The #17 will have Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the seat. He is moving over to the top “Sprint Cup” series following a 2nd championship in Nationwide series. Trevor Bayne will be in the vacated Nationwide seat for Rousch-Fenway while still maintaining the Cup duties in the #21 for the Wood Brothers.
There are still some teams in the mix of matching drivers. With testing on the track at Daytona all the teams and drivers are getting the tires hot and their hands well into the mechanics of racing. The new season is on with drivers in the seats surrounded by sheet metal coming from the same factories building the showroom counterparts.
Now the cars are on the track. The preseason photo releases were just an appetizer. On the track the Gen-6 provides a powerful vision of a NASCAR reboot. The cars have body sculpture and design lines that flow with Daytona speeds. It will be a pleasure to see these teams embrace these designs as the season races onward through the variety of tracks on the schedule.
For racing fans, the Gen-6 may be the vision of speed, style and tradition that many have thought has been lacking. Time will tell. Over 36 races, time will tell. Drivers are embracing it and ready to race it. They are turning preseason laps at Daytona gathering as much data for NASCAR tuning and team set-ups that they can. Everything from downforce to drafting is being analyzed at race speeds.
The Daytona 500 is set for February 24th. We’ll see plenty of Gen-6 action before the iconic season starter with the Budweiser Duals (formerly sponsored by Gatorade) and the Sprint Unlimited (a rebrand of the Bud Shootout).
NASCAR has had a makeover. It might not make the cover of Vogue so get some tickets and go racing and see for yourself!