With the playoffs firmly underway, it's the business end of the NASCAR season, bringing plenty of tension to the sport's protagonists. But this past weekend, as Chase Elliott won at Talladega Superspeedway, drivers' disquiet that has bubbled beneath the surface for most of the season came to a head: questioning the safety of the Next Gen car.
Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman are missing from the grid with concussions suffered in the Next Gen car, Cody Ware confirmed Tuesday that he'll skip the Charlotte Roval because of the broken foot he endured in the Next Gen.