{"id":84055,"date":"2022-10-01T19:47:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T19:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/jordan-anderson-in-fiery-crash-in-talladega-truck-race\/"},"modified":"2022-10-01T19:47:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T19:47:59","slug":"jordan-anderson-in-fiery-crash-in-talladega-truck-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/jordan-anderson-in-fiery-crash-in-talladega-truck-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Anderson in fiery crash in Talladega Truck race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TALLADEGA, Ala. \u2014 Denny Hamlin cites \u201cbad leadership\u201d from NASCAR for creating a car that he says needs to be redesigned after two drivers have concussion-like symptoms in crashes this year.<\/p>\n

Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have been most outspoken about the safety of the car this year. Chase Elliott spoke up Saturday about how \u201cdisappointed\u201d he is \u201cthat we put ourselves in the box that we’re in.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Hamlin said other drivers must join them in being heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a lot of young guys are just happy to be here, but they ain’t going to be happy when their brains are scrambled for the rest of their lives,\u201d Hamlin said Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.<\/p>\n

NASCAR had not offered a response to Hamlin’s comments as of Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Driver frustrations with the Next Gen car continue to grow, as Alex Bowman became the second driver to be forced to miss at least a race for concussion-like symptoms. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bowman crashed last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway and experienced headaches and other symptoms of a concussion earlier this week, according to Hendrick Motorsports President Jeff Andrews. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bowman went to a doctor on Thursday and the team announced that day Bowman would not race Sunday. No timetable for his return has been announced. Noah Gragson will drive Bowman’s car Sunday.<\/p>\n

Kurt Busch, who drives for Hamlin’s 23XI Racing, continues to be out because of a head injury he said after he crashed July 23 at Pocono Raceway. Busch said this week that he is \u201chopeful\u201d of racing this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hamlin unleashed a torrent of criticisms Saturday about the car and series officials for an issue he said drivers brought up more than a year ago.<\/p>\n

Asked how the sport got to this point with the car, Hamlin said: \u201cBad leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how to avoid the same thing from happening, Hamlin said: \u201cNew leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the changes that need to be made in NASCAR leadership, Hamlin said: \u201cI don’t know. You can start at the top and work your way down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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#NASCAR<\/a> \u2026 Denny Hamlin is asked how the sport is in this spot with the new car:<\/p>\n

\u201cBad leadership\u201d pic.twitter.com\/gokP6TDZ34<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dustin Long (@dustinlong) October 1, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

NASCAR has a crash test scheduled next week on the rear clip and rear bumper of the car. That’s an improvement that could be made to the car for next season. A complaint about the car is how stiff the rear is and how rear-end impacts have felt more violent to drivers this season. The crash test is the first since a full car crash test last December. <\/span><\/p>\n

For Hamlin, the rear is only a start to what needs to be done to the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car needs to be redesigned,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cIt needs a full redesign. It can still be called Next Gen, but it needs to be redesigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needs to be redesigned everywhere. Front, middle, rear, competition, the whole thing needs to be redesigned. We’ve got a tough Martinsville race coming up. It’s going to be tough. This thing is just going to get exposed about how bad it races. That’s just a part of it. Competition and safety, we’d like to have it all better, but certainly we just took a step back in safety and competition this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin also knows it’s too late for a redesign for next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were to run this and say, ‘All right, we’re going to have a new car,’ we’d already be done with testing right now for next year’s car,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cWe haven’t even begun. We’re just the way too behind. This whole sport is behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Hamlin said it was “feasible” for NASCAR to do a redesign of the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just (that) NASCAR has to concede that they’re not capable and let the teams do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That’s not likely. NASCAR has a contract with the suppliers of each part and those deals, while they can be broken under certain circumstances, are multi-year deals. <\/span><\/p>\n

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#NASCAR<\/a> \u2026 Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have been outspoken about the car. Says Hamlin: \u201cI know a lot of young guys are just happy to be here, but they ain’t going to be happy when their brains are scrambled for the rest of their lives.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/vIuwIlkeod<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dustin Long (@dustinlong) October 1, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hamlin said drivers brought up concerns about the car last year. There had been concerns about the car and how hard the impact felt after William Byron’s crash in testing at Auto Club Speedway in March 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually, as the drivers, didn’t do that docu-series last year because we didn’t feel comfortable with this Next Gen car and the lack of the safety testing that had been done before they started announcing that they were going to run it,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201cWe threw up red flags over a year ago and they just didn’t respond. They just kept pushing this car has got to be on the track at all cost. At all cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview last month, John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president of Racing Innovation, told NBC Sports that he feels one misunderstanding with the car is the collaboration between NASCAR, teams and manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that sometimes when you read the driver quotes and the team feedback, crew chiefs are posting things on Twitter, it creates the sense of NASCAR etc. them vs. the world,\u201d Probst said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cReally, it isn’t like that. I wish people could see how well we actually do work with the engineers on these teams, sorting through the problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we work hand-in-hand with them, but a lot of times when it gets to the public eye, for whatever reason, or if it’s in the heat of the moment, it comes across as though ‘NASCAR is making us do this,’ or ‘This is the dumbest thing ever,’ but I think, in reality, that is so far from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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#NASCAR<\/a> \u2026 Denny Hamlin on the Next Gen car: \u201cThe car needs to be redesigned. It needs a full redesign.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/upzrMJIZ08<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dustin Long (@dustinlong) October 1, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n