Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season

The eagerly-awaited 2022 NASCAR Cup season is due to get underway this weekend with the season-opening Daytona 500.

Reigning Cup series champion Kyle Larson secured pole ahead of Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team-mate Alex Bowman in qualifying on Wednesday, while 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve guaranteed himself a starting slot in the non-charter Team Hezeberg Ford. There are, however, many questions that remain unanswered as NASCAR's Next Gen era gets underway.

We've had a preview of what the new cars are about in the non-championship Clash event held at the LA Coliseum, won by Penske Ford driver Joey Logano, but this weekend will be the first true taste of what is to come - with all of Daytona's usual propensity for random results thrown in.

Autosport guides you through what to expect from the new-look Cup Series in 2022.

1. What’s new about the Next Gen cars? (by Charles Bradley)

Logano fended off Kyle Busch to win the Clash in the famous LA Coliseum

Photo by: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Images

If you think Formula 1 has undergone a rules revolution for 2022, it’s been said about NASCAR’s Next Gen project that “the only thing the same about these cars is the driver’s seat”. In the name of cost saving and increased competition levels, it’s a huge leap forward on what has gone before.  

While the tubular-frame steel chassis remain, they are no longer fabricated by each team but a single supplier – Technique Chassis – and built to be stronger than any previous stock car. Standardised front and rear body clips are attached to the central cell, with composite body panels that will allow for more rubbin’ than ever. 

Engines are of the ‘old school’, 358 cubic-inch V8 variety, but have had a frontal revamp and are tailored to produce 670bhp at the majority of tracks, with the 550bhp package reserved for superspeedways. A hybrid system is likely to be added, but not until 2024. 

PLUS: How NASCAR had to learn a harsh lesson ahead of its Next Gen arrival 

Exhausts run direct from the engine banks and exit via the car’s skirts much further forward than before – these cars are loud! A transaxle with ramp and plate differential is implemented for the first time, with five forward gears instead of four. 

The shape of the cars has altered, with a lower roofline and a shorter rear deck lid. Underbody aerodynamics – including a splitter and diffuser – play a bigger role in producing more downforce than ever before 

Just like F1, NASCAR has shifted to 18-inch wheels – and single lug nuts are new, rather than five previously. The Goodyear tyres are also wider, to match grip to much bigger brakes, while independent suspension features for the first time, as does rack-and-pinion steering.  

The shape of the cars has altered, with a lower roofline and a shorter rear deck lid. Underbody aerodynamics – including a splitter and diffuser – play a bigger role in producing more downforce than ever before.  

2. Will Brad Keselowski make a good team owner/driver? (by Jim Utter)

Keselowski has switched camps to the former RFR team, now known as RFK Racing following the 2012 champion's buy-in

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing has already experienced a benefit from the addition of Brad Keselowski as owner and driver: new sponsors and talented race-shop personnel have been attracted. That already makes the move a ‘win’ for the organisation. 

From those changes alone, the competition on the track from RFK’s Ford Mustangs is sure to improve in 2022. But the biggest question is how patient will Keselowski be in waiting to see the results come to fruition? Neither Keselowski nor team-mate Chris Buescher advanced through the heat races and into the main event of the recent Clash pre-season race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was surely a worrying disappointment. 

The Cup Series officially kicks off with this weekend’s Daytona 500. Roush has typically been strong in superspeedway races, so the season opener could prove an excellent chance for Keselowski to make noise straight out of the box. 

Keselowski has already won 35 races and a championship in the Cup Series – he isn’t going to be satisfied at this point in his career running as a second-tier team. With his main input on the competition side as well as being a driver, don’t expect him to waste any time making changes to see better results. Keselowski’s competitive drive is exactly what RFK Racing needs to get on the same level of Ford’s top tier of Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing. 

3. What could stop Kyle Larson becoming a back-to-back champion? (by Nick DeGroot)

Larson made a strong start to his title defence by snaring pole for this weekend's 500

Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images

Kyle Larson was unstoppable in 2021, winning double-digit races and taking the title in Phoenix. Despite the introduction of a new race car throwing everyone for a loop, there’s another glaring factor that could preclude Larson from winning back-to-back championships. 

No driver has done it since Jimmie Johnson, when he ended his historic streak of five consecutive titles in 2010. Since then, the points format has had a complete overhaul that makes repeating as champion more difficult than ever before.  

If not for a late debris yellow and a slower pitstop, Martin Truex Jr would likely have been crowned the 2021 champion despite Larson’s spectacular season

Eight years with the knock-out-style playoffs has resulted in seven different champions. Unlike previous systems, what you did last week doesn’t matter much. The 10-race post-season has been cut into four rounds with a points reset at the beginning of each. Even if a driver cruises through each round with ease, the finale is still the decider.  

The final four drivers are locked in with the same amount of points and the highest finisher in that single race takes it all. The most dominant driver during the season has come up short in that critical title decider many times before. In fact, if not for a late debris yellow and a slower pitstop, Martin Truex Jr would likely have been crowned the 2021 champion despite Larson’s spectacular season.  

A driver could theoretically, although not realistically, win all 35 races and still end up fourth in the standings should misfortune find them in the finale! Add to that the new Next Gen car, and it would be a very impressive feat if Larson goes back-to-back in 2022. 

4. How will Kurt Busch fare at 23XI Racing? (CB)

Elder Busch brother has joined 23XI Racing following the sale of Chip Ganassi's Cup team to Trackhouse's Justin Marks

Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images

Kurt Busch is a Cup Series champion with the wildest of reputations. The elder of the Busch brothers, he’s driven for many of NASCAR’s biggest teams (including Roush and Team Penske) but has often been highly controversial, leading to him being parked, fined or suspended on a number of occasions. GQ magazine once rated him number three in its poll of top 10 ‘most hated’ athletes.

Yet Busch’s on-track achievements have been mighty. He’s won races in all of NASCAR’s national divisions. He was crowned Cup champion in 2004, a year after winning the IROC title. He won the Daytona 500 in 2017 and went back-to-back as the All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 winner at Charlotte in 2010. He has 33 Cup wins to his name, and even found time to be crowned Rookie of the Year at the Indy 500 in 2014 after a sixth-place finish. 

Despite rumours of him considering retirement for a commentary career, Busch has cultivated major sponsorship from Monster Energy drink. Now 43, he has made another big move, joining 23XI Racing’s Toyota team, run by Cup rival Denny Hamlin and basketball legend Michael Jordan.

His 2022 season didn’t start well, when a multi-car collision in the Busch Clash at the LA Coliseum, which included team-mate Bubba Wallace, put him in the wall and damaged his car. Clearly frustrated, he did well to bite his lip when it came to the post-incident TV interview. Busch has gotten into many feuds during his career, so perhaps the real test is how he reacts if he gets into a scrape with team boss Hamlin…

5. Will single-lug wheel changes ruin the pitstop spectacle? (JU)

Joe Gibbs Racing has spent countless hours perfecting pitstops

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Likely by March, NASCAR will issue guidance on how much Cup Series teams can alter the traditional way they have conducted pitstops. But if fans are accustomed to seeing many lug nuts flying off wheels and 12 to 15-second pitstops, that’s going to change dramatically.

We’re not talking stops of a couple of seconds (unless it’s just for a splash of fuel) like F1 but, with the single-lug wheels, the length of stops will most certainly shorten.

Joe Gibbs Racing has already spent considerable time trying to come up with a new routine of doing a four-tyre pitstop (one nearing nine seconds), and has spent countless hours honing the skills of each of the pitcrew members – who are often former semi-professional football players, picked for their athleticism

The art of a pitstop will still be a critical part of NASCAR, albeit in an abbreviated form. In fact, because of the drop in length of the stops, they are certain to become more critical and even more innovative as teams try perfecting them. 

Joe Gibbs Racing has already spent considerable time trying to come up with a new routine of doing a four-tyre pitstop (one nearing nine seconds), and has spent countless hours honing the skills of each of the pitcrew members – who are often former semi-professional football players, picked for their athleticism – to best take advantage of their individual responsibility during the stop.

New pit guns – all from a single supplier – are being used due to the single lug-nut wheels that have also added to the transition for the series’ teams. What hasn’t changed is the fuelling of the car – and that more than anything may ultimately determine how quickly teams get off pitroad. But shorter tyre stops do open the door to more divergent strategies.  

6. Who’s the best superspeedway racer on the grid? (NDG)

McDowell took shock win for Front Row Motorsports in 2021 after Logano and Keselowski tangled

Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images

The answer used to be an easy one. Both Dale Earnhardt Sr and Jr ruled plate racing in NASCAR’s top level, winning 23 superspeedway races between them. But now, who reigns supreme at the high banks of Daytona and Talladega?

Looking solely at race wins, Brad Keselowski is an obvious choice. As a former driver for JR Motorsports, he must have picked up a thing or two from his boss. He’s won seven times, but only once at Daytona (in the 2016 Coke 400). While he’s enjoyed great success at Talladega, luck has not been on his side at Daytona, crashing out in eight of the last 10 races there.

Just one year ago, he nearly won the 500 before a bad block from team-mate Joey Logano sent him careening into the wall on the final lap. Winning is great, but part of being a good superspeedway racer is making it to the finish.

That’s where Denny Hamlin comes in. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won three of the past six Daytona 500s and he’s also finished the past 10 events at Daytona/Talladega. Of note, no active driver has led more laps than him at superspeedway races, with Hamlin spending over 1000 tours out in front. 

It’s probably safe to say that, while Chase Elliott, Logano and Keselowski are all good bets, Hamlin seems to rise above them all when NASCAR takes on the banks of Daytona and Talladega.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Hamlin goes in as one of the favourites

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images