NASCAR sparked a lot of optimism with a Wednesday announcement of a new superspeedway package for the Next Gen car, which will be debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in August. However, while there was increased optimism that the new package could provide more passing at superspeedways, the announcement also opened the sanctioning body up to further scrutiny about the current generation of NASCAR Cup Series car.
On Thursday, Cole Pearn, who served as the crew chief for Martin Truex, Jr. during his NASCAR Cup Series championship season in 2017, took to X to ask a question regarding the sanctioning body and the Next Gen car.
Never one to be shy with words, in a quote post of NASCAR’s superspeedway package announcement, Pearn asked, “At what point do these donkeys admit that they completely fumble fucked the design of this car.”
At what point do these donkeys admit that they completely fumble fucked the design of this car. https://t.co/6aUYRLR9Pa
— Cole Pearn (@colepearn) July 16, 2026
In one fell swoop, Pearn hit the sanctioning body with an elbow drop from the top rope.
The responses to Pearn’s pointed post on X didn’t go any softer on the sanctioning body, which has come under heavy criticism over the design of the Next Gen car since its debut in 2022.
“The last time a mistake was admitted was when the snack bar at the Daytona Beach Course gave a customer a hot dog instead of a hamburger,” Jay Coker replied.
Steve Carnes, a longtime partner of Jeremy Clements Racing, said, “This is all on “IMSA Jim”, referring to Jim France.
A user with the X handle @dirtE_11b responded to Pearn, saying, “when the next generation car comes out. theyll admit it after the fact. until then, theyll continue to die on the hill”
While NASCAR can chalk up the post from Pearn and negative-leaning responses as a very vocal minority of the NASCAR fanbase, having a voice like Pearn’s weighing in on this topic in this way shows that, despite NASCAR’s best attempts to soften people’s stance on the Next Gen car, which is essentially a kit-car, there is still a portion of those within the industry, currently and formerly, as well as the fanbase, who are not a fan of the Next Gen car.
And regardless of how next month’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway plays out, that’ll still likely be the case.
