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NASCAR’s quest for an optimized short track racing product for the 2026 season is officially underway, with a critical two-day tire testing session commencing this week at Bristol Motor Speedway. This initiative, spearheaded by Goodyear, aims to refine tire compounds and configurations to achieve a more consistent and engaging racing spectacle, addressing the recent wide swings in on-track performance that have oscillated between traditional racing and extreme tire wear.
The variability observed in recent short track races, particularly during the cooler conditions of spring 2024 and fall 2025, has been largely attributed to temperature fluctuations. These conditions have impacted the rubber’s ability to adhere to the track surface, leading to scenarios where tire sets could only endure 30-50 laps under optimal management. While these instances have generated excitement through increased speed differentials and heightened on-track contact, the consensus within the sport points towards the need for a more balanced approach, less susceptible to environmental factors.
This week’s test at Bristol, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, is designed to bridge that gap. Competition officials have outlined key objectives: developing a tire setup that encourages strategic fall-off and emphasizes tire management, while crucially avoiding the excessive wear that characterized the Cup Series’ most recent short track encounter on September 13th. Furthermore, a paramount goal is to establish a temperature-neutral tire configuration, ensuring consistent performance regardless of ambient temperature shifts.
The demanding task of evaluating these new tire combinations falls to a select group of drivers and teams:
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- No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota, piloted by Bubba Wallace.
- No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, with Alex Bowman behind the wheel.
- No. 60 RFK Racing Ford, driven by Ryan Preece.
This testing period also marks a significant milestone as it will be the first time the short track package is integrated with the 750 horsepower tapered spacer. This represents a notable increase from the current 670 HP target, a new regulation slated for the NextGen car in the upcoming 2026 season.
Following the Bristol test, NASCAR and Goodyear plan to conduct further evaluations at North Wilkesboro Speedway. This subsequent test will also serve as a platform for NASCAR to explore potential technical modifications to the NextGen car, aiming to further enhance the short track racing product.
The introduction of the NextGen car in 2022 initially promised improved racing on intermediate tracks. However, its aerodynamic design, particularly its sensitivity to airflow, has presented challenges on flatter short tracks and road courses, often resulting in a single racing groove and limiting passing opportunities. The trailing car’s difficulty in generating clean air and maintaining momentum has been a recurring point of discussion.
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell acknowledged this ongoing challenge last month, expressing a clear willingness to experiment with solutions beyond the planned horsepower increase. "I think what you’ll see us do is, we got the drivers, with the counsel from Christopher Bell and others, Joey Logano, talking about, ‘Hey! Let’s try some of these things.’ Working with 3 of the OEM manufacturers and crew chiefs or Heads of Competition. Putting some ideas together, going and trying it at North Wilkesboro and see what happens,” O’Donnell stated.
Christopher Bell, a prominent voice in driver feedback, has been particularly vocal about the need for the Cup Series cars to exhibit more responsive handling, akin to their Xfinity Series counterparts. "I think they need to get the Cup aero map to match the Xfinity Series cars,” Bell told Motorsport.com recently. “That would be the best case scenario, to get the Cup cars to react like the Xfinity cars. I was a big advocate of going back to narrower tires, but after all the work Goodyear has put in this year, the cars are sliding around a lot now. We go to road courses and short tracks, and I can promise you, it is slippery. At Martinsville, and the Charlotte Road Course, we are sliding the car around a lot and are overpowered with the current horsepower.”
Bell further elaborated on the aerodynamic differences, noting that while Xfinity cars achieve downforce with a nose-down, tail-up configuration, the Cup car relies on its diffuser for rear downforce, resulting in a nose-up, tail-down attitude. This fundamental difference, he believes, impacts the car’s ability to handle in yaw, a maneuver essential for aggressive driving and passing. “It’s worse in traffic. This is why we can’t get the car in front of us loose. This hurts passing. We need to optimize the car with the nose down and the tail up, and whatever gets us there, that’s what we need to do,” Bell emphasized.
Beyond tires and aerodynamics, the testing will also involve evaluating the new McLaren TAG-510 Electronic Control Unit (ECU) and Data Logger, a component set to be standard for the 2026 season. Brad Keselowski, when asked about his expectations for the testing, highlighted the importance of the ECU: "You have to be more specific for me to have a strong opinion but I know the ECU is a big part of that test and getting that right. There are a lot of things that those tests will be important for.”
The discussion surrounding potential aerodynamic solutions has also included ideas from prominent figures like Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has previously advocated for a more stripped-down NextGen car configuration for short track racing.
Crew chiefs are grappling with the complexities of achieving the handling characteristics Bell desires. Adam Stevens, crew chief for Christopher Bell, admitted the uncertainty surrounding the aerodynamic solutions: "I think everyone has a handle on what they want to happen but I don’t think anybody has a handle on what it’s going to take, aerodynamically to make that happen. I would certainly put myself in that category. We all want the trailing car to not be at such a disadvantage to the leading car. How to make that happen, I have not put any time or study into that. I can tell you the people that have taken the time to over the years, haven’t had much success anyway so I can’t tell you what widget we need to try either. If anyone knows what that widget is, it isn’t me.”
Rudy Fugle, crew chief for William Byron, expressed concerns about the potential cost of significant aerodynamic overhauls. “My opinion on the aero side of it is pretty complex,” Fugle stated. “With the way the underbody and the way the splitter is and the way the air flows to the louvers, I think it would be pretty expensive to do some of this stuff. I haven’t heard of any of their plans to be honest with you… but there are definitely some things that I think could help but they are pretty large-scale things in my opinion. It would have to be a redesign of some things. There are some smarter aerodynamicists out there than me. I’m not one at all, so definitely smarter than me. Maybe they’re getting somewhere that I don’t know about.”
Chris Gayle has suggested focusing on reducing the reliance on shocks and exploring modifications to the sealed underbody.
Despite the complexities, there is an overarching sense of optimism regarding incremental improvements. Paul Wolfe, crew chief for Joey Logano, believes that the combination of the horsepower increase, advancements from Goodyear, and potential aerodynamic tweaks will collectively contribute to a better racing product. “The horsepower thing has been on the radar for a while,” Wolfe commented. “I’m excited for the direction. That’s good. I’m not aware of any of the aero stuff that’s been talked about. We’re already on two different packages when it comes to mile and a half versus short track. We’ve run both packages on short tracks. It’s hard to say anything has been a big more mover on the aero side but with all this being said, we need to keep in mind that not one change is going to be huge, it’s about stacking little changes here and there to make the racing better. I saw where some guys said ‘were not going to see anything out of the 750’ but is it going to be night and day, no, but when it comes to managing and using your tires, those things, adding horsepower isn’t going to make it worse. It’s going to make the wear worse, which is where we’re trying to go.”
Wolfe echoed the sentiment that a series of minor adjustments, much like the meticulous process teams undertake to find speed, will be key to enhancing entertainment value. "I’m excited to see the 750 package and I don’t think it’s going to be worse, and it should directionally make things better,” Wolfe concluded. “We’ve done some good things with tires this year. Goodyear has pushed the boundary there. We’ve seen good results there and I’m excited to continue down that path. This is a tough one, and I don’t know that we as a sport are always going to knock it out of the park there, but it will continue to evolve and we’ve gone in the right directions and I’m excited to continue down that path as well.”
NASCAR has yet to finalize the specific parameters and scope of the North Wilkesboro test, including the exact technical elements to be examined and the number of participating teams.
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