Welcome to the first Garage Guy RePorT of the 2022 NASCAR Season. NASCAR Next Gen Testing at Daytona is officially over, and it’s time for me to give you all “The Deets” on what went down over the two-day period at the World Center of Racing. Remember, I am the one and only Official RePorTor in NASCAR and the art of RePorTorIng is a serious thing.
On Tuesday, January 11th, NASCAR Next Gen Testing opened up to the public at 12 PM and remained open until 8 PM. Fans from all over swarmed the Daytona Infield to get their first look at the new Gen 7 car, and they were what we millennials would call, “Big Hype”. DIS officials even had concessions, ticket sale booths, and cornhole boards for the fans to enjoy while listening to the supersonic sounds that the Gen 7 makes.
When I arrived on the scene, I headed straight to victory lane, where I found a car with a cover over it and Richard Childress Racing employees huddled up in multiple groups as you would see on a High School recess area. They were gathered for the unveiling of a new partnership for Tyler Reddick in 2022. When they finally ripped the big sheet off the car, I was shook at what my eyes were seeing.
What I for sure thought would be a full-season MGM Sportsbook partnership was actually a company that makes products to help you chill out in a big way. 3CHI is their name, and you can google them because what matters here is that the car looks sexy! I mean, it basically turned Reddick into an aspiring rap artist when the media asked to get a picture of him by his car (but RePorTors suggest posing on the hood cause it works better).
It’s a vibe. https://t.co/3QmSsORUsh
— RCR (@RCRracing) January 11, 2022
The day continued in an exciting fashion for myself and Dale Tanhardt as we talked to fans and watched the cars go in and out of the garage area over the first few hours of the day. Fortunately for “WE” (Garage Guys) Reddick and his team suggested doing an Episode of Garage Talk on Tuesday instead of our original plan to film on Wednesday. This was a solid choice because Dale and I were both wearing Chevrolet Racing jackets and shirts.
New Garage Talk with @TylerReddick from Daytona Victory Lane dropping tomorrow. Was an absolute blast.
Stay tuned ? pic.twitter.com/QIGJESKjnA
— Garage Guys ? (@GarageGuysFS) January 11, 2022
I mean, imagine us wearing Ford jackets with a Chevrolet driver, would just be awkward even if it wasn’t REALLY awkward.
The episode turned out great, and getting to film it in Daytona Victory Lane was a HUGE honor. Daytona is the MECCA of racing in my opinion and the energy you feel from being there is just something you have to be there to understand. Regardless if a race is even happening.
Now that you’ve seen the episode we can talk about that one moment where Brad K was yelling at us every 40 seconds or so. Sometimes you just have to let people know you are in the building, and he did that way too well (I forgive him tho).
On the latest Garage Talk, @GarageGuyChase & @daletanhardt are joined by @TylerReddick, but another NASCAR Cup Series driver was determined to let the Garage Fam know he was in the building.
Thanks for stopping by @keselowski ??#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/TOPE3KCZqp
— Garage Guys ? (@GarageGuysFS) January 13, 2022
Inside the Media Center, I was blessed with a delicious chicken sandwich for lunch along with a bag of chips and a cookie for dessert. It doesn’t matter at all that I ate that and there’s nothing special about it. I just wanted to write what I ate for lunch.
On Wednesday, It was time to get down to business with heavy Video RePorToring. We arrived at the track around noon, and the big story so far that morning was how Erik Jones’ car was doing the crab walk real bad. If you don’t know what that means it’s ok, because I’m going to show you.
The Twisted Sister Era is back ?
pic.twitter.com/BjfnxiXbyP— Garage Guys ? (@GarageGuysFS) January 12, 2022
So now that you’ve seen a race car equivalent to what seeing the band Slipknot at church would look like, I should tell you that he won’t be able to run the car this way once the season starts. It may go fast but It just makes your eyes hurt, and nobody likes hurt eyes.
Dale and I were able to get some cool clips of cars from multiple areas inside the track, and really experienced what it was like to be at a racetrack with no fans. Long story short, It’s weird but seeing these whips in action captured most of my attention.
Confirmed: soap is clean @IrishSpring https://t.co/ldtdLaHPCk
— dale tanhardt (@daletanhardt) January 12, 2022
Welcome to the Daytona 500, Jacques. @TeamHezeberg pic.twitter.com/n40OYIaEc7
— Garage Guys ? (@GarageGuysFS) January 12, 2022
The @Castrol fit is a timeless classic pic.twitter.com/VXLRGXKehM
— Garage Guys ? (@GarageGuysFS) January 12, 2022
You have to give the nod to @woodbrothers21 for keeping it plain and simple…and chrome. pic.twitter.com/HYN3mYLnwT
— Garage Guys ? (@GarageGuysFS) January 12, 2022
YRB heading out to collect data ? pic.twitter.com/DJS8hChws7
— Chase Holden (@GarageGuyChase) January 12, 2022
Before we packed it up and headed out, I got to see my good pal Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the media center and gather some cool news. I found out that JTG Daughtery Racing and Kroger are going to bring Daytona 500 campers some groceries inside the track during the race weekend. This is a really cool thing, but It also made me wonder what people are going to think when an entire grocery store’s worth of beer and meat is transported in.
Big news coming out of @DAYTONA from @StenhouseJr today. @kroger Delivery will provide grocery delivery to campers in the infield and in @GEICO Park West grounds leading up to the #Daytona500!! More details to follow. https://t.co/bt82hVvSOS
— JTG Daugherty Racing (@JTGRacing) January 12, 2022
I don’t know if these grocery attendants have ever dealt with die-hard infield NASCAR campers before, but lord knows they would be way better off treating it like Mardi Gras and hope people can catch. Maybe they can test it out at Talladega first that way but I do think the concept is dope.
This has been an official RePorT of Daytona Next Gen Testing by me, Garage Guy. There were a lot of other things said and done over the weekend, and you might be confused about what you just read. Hell, you might even be angry, but that’s on you because you wanted the “RePorT”.
However, you can find some great in-depth NASCAR News and updates by checking out other areas of the best NASCAR website that exists on the internet, TobyChristie.com. be sure to follow TobyChristie.com on social media as well for up to the minute news and updates.
