A few days ago, NASCAR set its sights on bringing some new changes to its racing series for more relevance. At first, the discussions were limited to the O’Reilly cars and the addition of EVs and CUVs to the sport. However, the latest rumors in the garage suggest that the sport has moved on towards the Truck series instead, and it is supposed to be in line with the Cup program.

Recently, Tommy Baldwin Jr. dropped a surprising revelation during his podcast, Door Bumper Clear. “They’re [NASCAR] doing it because they’re trying to implement this new truck in a couple years. They’re trying to make it aggravating for you to go, ‘Oh, you won’t have any problems,’” Baldwin said while talking about the Truck series inspection process. His words carry a similar sentiment as his co-host Freddie Kraft’s theories last year.

In 2025, Kraft was suggesting that NASCAR was going to bring major changes to the Truck series by the 2028 season. Those changes would make the Trucks feel more like their Sunday counterparts. As such, the parts will be supplied by a single-source manufacturer, and a body kit will be added on top of it. In their history of running, the Truck Series is the only NASCAR series that has stayed true to its traditional values.

 

Compared to the Trucks, the O’Reilly and Cup Series cars are no longer ‘stock,’ in the sense that everything has become generalized, and there is not a lot of creative freedom for the manufacturers. Moreover, the cars being run in the NASCAR Cup Series have little to no similarity to the production models they are inspired by. This is because of the generalized parts being used by NASCAR. The loss of relevance is one of the main reasons why fans do not appreciate the Next-Gen car.

The biggest gripe for the fans is the fact that NASCAR has moved away from its roots and is becoming more and more like a Euro-spec racing series. In fact, in many ways, a NASCAR vehicle resembles the Le Mans prototype cars due to the strict policing and regulations, including but not limited to the strict engine power limitations.

Why use the Next-Gen car despite the hate?

NASCAR had its own reasons to go from full stock to spec cars in the Next-Gen era. Mostly, it was related to the multiple additions that ensure driver safety and shift the focus towards the individual’s performance instead of the team’s engineering innovations.

Before, teams were making everything from scratch, so there was a high chance that if one of them made a breakthrough, they would brutally dominate the competition. However, now that a single source is being used for the majority of the systems and the kit is the only thing that the teams can change in the car, it is up to the drivers and the teams to optimize their aerodynamics and judiciously use their race data to churn out better performance from the cars.

The modernization of cars and the decrease in the competitive gap are two of the major reasons why NASCAR’s newest generation of cars has the ability to produce more surprise winners than any of the other older generations. Back then, one driver would have the best equipment and would dominate the entire season. But now, any driver can win the race as long as they have a good strategy within the team and the talent to do so.

In a way, the addition of the spec cars has completely changed the dynamics of racing. The “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” philosophy is completely replaced by pure track-focused racing action. There is a reason why the NASCAR Truck Series teams utilize one of their best-selling names in the races. Ford uses the F-150 Raptor; Chevy uses their Silverado; Toyota has the Tundra; and the latest manufacturer, Dodge, is using RAM.

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