NASCAR: Drivers announced for Next Gen test at Charlotte Roval
The first organizational test for NASCAR’s Next Gen car in the 2022 Cup Series is scheduled Monday and Tuesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course.
A total of 21 teams are set to participate, with drivers shaking down the new model on the 2.32-mile Roval circuit. The seventh-generation design is set to debut in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum exhibition on Feb. 6, with a full-fledged premiere in the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 20.
The list of teams and drivers expected to participate in the two-day test:
| Team | Driver(s) |
| No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet | Kaz Grala |
| No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford | Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola |
| No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | Kyle Larson |
| No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | Corey LaJoie |
| No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | Tyler Reddick |
| No. 12 Team Penske Ford | Ryan Blaney |
| No. 14 Stewart Haas Racing Ford | Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer |
| No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | AJ Allmendinger, Justin Haley |
| No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford | Chris Buescher |
| No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | Martin Truex Jr. |
| No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford | Austin Cindric |
| No. 22 Team Penske Ford | Joey Logano |
| No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota | Bubba Wallace |
| No. 27 Team Hezeberg Ford | Loren Hezemans, Jacques Villenueve |
| No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet | Ross Chastain |
| No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet | Erik Jones |
| No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | Alex Bowman |
| No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet | Joey Hand, Cody Ware |
| No. 94 GMS Racing Chevrolet | Ty Dillon |
| No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | Daniel Suarez |
The sessions will mark the debuts for two Cup Series efforts — Team Hezeberg, which will field the No. 27 Ford for NASCAR Whelen Euro Series drivers Loren Hezemans and Jacques Villeneuve ahead of their part-time venture in 2022, and the No. 94 GMS Racing Chevrolet for newly tapped driver Ty Dillon.
Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric, who is slated to drive the No. 2 Ford for Team Penske next year, will drive the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 in the two-day session. Cindric was originally slated to drive the No. 21 in the Cup Series next year before Brad Keselowski’s planned departure to Roush Fenway Racing in 2022 shook up the roster for Team Penske and its affiliates.
The sessions — which are scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET each day — provide an early opportunity for teams to get familiar with the Next Gen model, working on their own cars and learning their nuances. The vehicle’s development phase was largely made up of single-car tests, with eight teams taking part in the most recent test Sept. 7-8 — a NASCAR test at Daytona International Speedway to determine tire combinations and the proper aero and horsepower mix for the 2022 superspeedway rules package.
Three more organizational Next Gen tests are on the calendar before the 2022 season — Nov. 17-18 on the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway oval, Dec. 14-15 at Phoenix Raceway, and Jan. 11-12 back at Daytona.