“We Cannot F***ing Can This Car”- NASCAR Veteran Torches Next-Gen Scrappage Talks

NASCAR finds itself in a tight spot as its solution-led next-gen car design has backfired, creating more problems in 2026. However, it cannot simply abandon the next-gen car because the financial and technical reasons behind its introduction still exist. While the officials are hard at work to find a fix for this never-ending loop, one insider believes there is no doing away with the new spec car.

NASCAR veteran, Kenny Wallace, and Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, discussed a fix for the next-gen car on Kenny Conversation’s November 6 episode.

Wallace opened the dialogue by asking, “We all know the car is not perfect.And when I know all you can do is just work on something, that’s what you do. We cannot f***ing  can this car. So the next-gen car, you know, I listen to Actions Detrimental. They’re working on it little by little. This is the car. What are we going to do?”

Kraft wasted no time in suggesting possible solutions and improvements to revive the racing spectacle that fans love to watch. He discussed how improving tire wear and degradation along with changes to the body structure could make a significant difference, while comparing the Cup Series cars to O’Reilly cars.

“I think the biggest thing that I agree with it’s the tires. You know, the tires are what’s made. Every time we have tire wear, we have great races,” He added. “I hate the biggest thing that I can’t stand about the car is that it’s – I feel like it’s more – it leads more into defense than offense.”

Kraft’s comments highlight how the leading car knows it can significantly affect the trailing cars’ aerodynamics with the dirty air behind it. Similarly, the next-gen car does not promote bumper-to-bumper racing because of the high downforce it produces.

“You know, that’s my biggest thing: I like to see more offense and defense. With this car, you’re just kind of stuck in your lane, especially on a mile and a half, and especially on some of the short tracks,” Kraft explained. “It’s really hard to get to a guy’s bumper and move them. Or get to them and manipulate them with air at all. So I would just like to see us be able to have a little bit more offense in the car and see the tires wear out. It is the biggest thing for me, at least.”

But Kenny Wallace comes from a different school of thought. He built on how teams and manufacturers have done this to themselves since the inception of the sport and are now blaming NASCAR for failing to find a solution.

“The reason we are where we’re at now is because Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske, they started building a brand-new car for every race. Because the body was insane. They were bringing these cars back from the racetracks. And Timmy was telling me at 8.30, the car was completely down to the framing cage,” Wallace reminisced. “The owners went to NASCAR and said, save us. Now, the rest is history. But we are our own worst enemy. But in life, we got to blame somebody. It’s like Darth Vader. So just blame NASCAR. And in reality, it was the car owner’s fault. Because they did it to themselves.”

It is important to understand where these two trains of thought stem from. When NASCAR introduced its next-gen car in 2022, it hoped to achieve parity, reduce costs, and promote driver skill and the ability to make a difference.

In the process, the new regulations stripped the cars of their capability to produce bumper-to-bumper action, aggressive overtakes, and charge for leads or passes, as the new package affected the horsepower, aerodynamics, and degradation that made the races exciting.

A prominent example would be NASCAR’s new short-track racing package that introduced increased horsepower (750 HP) and reduced downforce to promote raw speed and racing. However, instead of fighting for the lead, teams and drivers chose to run in a tightly knit pack on a fuel-conservation strategy on multiple occasions instead.

Besides affecting on-track performance, the parity goal was also met with resistance from the engineers and technical innovation experts who found their role restricted to building the body structure advised by NASCAR, losing engineering freedom of trying to experiment or find loopholes in the regulations.

Teams and manufacturers argued that although these new-gen cars were introduced to reduce costs, they have significantly increased the burden of repairs, as teams cannot make changes to certain parts or the body in-house without NASCAR’s permission.

Wallace’s strong stance on why the teams and NASCAR itself cannot do away with the complicated next-gen car comes from how teams spent extensively on developing new cars for new races and exhausted their funds in the process, which ultimately led NASCAR to come up with the idea of standardized next-gen car.

While next-gen car is here to stay for now, NASCAR officials have revealed their plans to improve both the car and factors that affect racing heading into 2027. With their potential project number one being fixing stage-one lengths, followed by their officiating process for handing out real-time penalties and consequences, insiders like Brad Moran and Mike Forde have revealed that the governing body is not very happy with how the season has turned out.

NASCAR will try to improve the package by increasing horsepower to promote bumper-to-bumper racing, further work on short-track packages, and more.

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