Here's Our Best Look Yet at the Next-Gen NASCAR

Just a day after announcing the May 5th debut of its next-gen car, NASCAR gave us our best yet look (and listen) to the new Cup Series machine on track. This is a radically new stock car underneath, but it sounds like classic NASCAR.

That's because the V-8 from the current Cup Series car will be carried over into the Next Gen car. Our colleagues at Autoweek explain that this V-8 will be replaced by some sort of hybrid powertrain within the next decade. So at least for now, what's under the hood isn't really changing, though the pushrod V-8 will be mated to a five-speed sequential gearbox instead of a four-speed H-pattern. The Next Gen car will also get independent rear suspension, and wider tires on 18-inch aluminum wheels with center-locking nuts. The series also confirmed that the car will still use a steel-tube frame.

NASCAR has been testing a generic version of the Next Gen car for a few years now, and on May 5, we'll see Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota's specific versions of the car. Next year will be the first competition year for the new stock car, and we're curious to see how it shakes up the racing. It will represent a big step forward for NASCAR, but the Next Gen car should still be recognizable as a stock car. We also expect it to be much improved on road courses, which now figure more prominently on the Cup Series calendar.

We'll be watching closely on the 5th.

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