It’s Saturday morning at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and Formula 1 champion Jenson Button is zipping up his drivers suit just a few feet away from me. He isn’t stepping into an F1 car but instead is getting ready to qualify for a NASCAR Cup race. Button isn’t the only Formula 1 champion in the field as Kimi Räikkönen is getting ready a few boxes down. IMSA champion Jordan Taylor and IndyCar driver Conor Daly are getting ready to qualify, too. I’m watching all of this as a mechanic for seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson who decided to make this race part of his comeback tour. Something big is happening in NASCAR, starting from inside of the stock cars themselves.
NASCAR shook up the Cup series with the introduction of the Next Gen car at the beginning of the 2022 season as it embarked on the most revolutionary change to their car and team business model yet. The four-speed manual box up front and solid axle rear end were replaced by a five-speed transaxle in the rear supported by an independent rear suspension along with a host of other parts that are now supplied by external vendors building them to a spec.
There have been growing pains as with any big project, but the COTA race this year felt like a huge turning point. I mean that both for the car and that it had attracted so many guest drivers from other series. Part of the reason that I was there working on a NASCAR Cup car and seeing any of this firsthand at all was that the Next Gen car is now offering more opportunities not only for drivers from other series but even mechanics like me.
Even amid the busy paddock on Friday, the guest drivers made themselves easy to pick out; they were some of the first ones on site. It seemed like Conor Daly and Jordan Taylor made an appearance at their cars just minutes after those of us on the crews entered the garages. They were genuinely excited, sharing notes on what they had learned so far from some of the veterans. Jordan made a home at a folding table filled with laptops and notes near his car for most of the day along with some of the engineers from his team.
As we pushed our car out for the first tech session of the day, it didn’t take long to spot not only Formula 1 team merch but even specific shirts like those of Project 91 that was operating the Räikkönen entry. Button and Räikkönen would make appearances in the paddock later in the day and would usually have someone running up to them for a selfie or autograph any time they ducked out of their transporter or garage stall.
I chatted with Jordan and Conor since their cars were pitted next to the one I was working on they were close by when we were in our garages and they seemed confident in their abilities on the road course with the equipment they had available to them. Things like pit stops, however, were an incredibly different experience coming from series where things like pit speed limiters and air jacks are used.
The fortunate part for the guest drivers was that NASCAR had recently introduced a new aero package. In order to give teams time to acclimate to it, NASCAR added a 50 minute practice session to the weekend instead of the usual shortened practice that immediately goes into qualifying. Those of us on the crews had to fly down to Austin a day earlier than usual, but it gave everyone more time to get acquainted with the cars.
The start of the qualifying session resulted in us being lined up beside Button and it was fascinating to see the entourage of people and media that came through the area. Button was focused on his qualifying effort and would eventually qualify 24th, just two spots behind Räikkönen. Taylor would be the most impressive of the guest drivers with a 4th place qualifying effort which started him ahead of multiple NASCAR champions.
Formula 1 drivers were not the only ones in the paddock, as Haas’ team principal Guenther Stenier strolled down pit lane alongside NASCAR champion Kurt Busch during the qualifying session to see what teams were up to before their broadcast duties. Stenier would join Busch and the Fox regulars for the race broadcast the next day. Once qualifying wrapped up and I was done with my mechanic duties, I joined fellow Contributing Editor Alanis King to explore the infield and fan areas alongside our friend and engineer JR Houston and NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick. We went up to the tower and watched the Truck Series race and spotted a lot of traditional NASCAR fans but also a sprinkling of those in Formula 1 gear. Alanis convinced Tyler and JR to go on some of the carnival rides in the fan zone. Tyler would eventually win the race the next day.
Race day rolled around and the paddock started to fill even more quickly and once the grid was open for VIP guests, TV personalities and athletes started to trickle in. I spotted Editor-At-Large Matt Farah over by Button’s car as I was making my way to the grid spot for my car and he shared an anecdote of running into Lance Armstrong and the cast of Super Troopers earlier in the day. He also introduced me to comedian Tom Segura who he had taken to some of the fan activities in the fan area. I weaved around and made it to our car to be met by other drivers and VIPs coming by to wish a good day to Jimmie before things quickly cleared out for the start of the race.
The guest drivers had a bit of a rough start to the race. They weren’t expecting some of the pushing and shoving that the regulars were used to, but by the second half of the race they started pushing back. Most of them found themselves running at the pointy end of the field for one point or another but eventually the veterans worked their way through the chaos at the end and the guest drivers were shuffled back towards the finish.
While many of them were surprised with the level of contact, they all seem to be looking for a way back into a top-level stock car. Button already has two more races planned with appearances scheduled at the Chicago street course and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where it's rumored that he might be competing against yet another former Formula 1 driver.
The NASCAR Next Gen project is still a work in progress but it’s already having huge wins by bringing in notable drivers and helping to grow a diverse fan base. From where I stand, it looks likely to continue growing as it gets refined.
