NASCAR Cup Series teams will have the option to implement updates to the Next Gen chassis beginning this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
A memo was sent to teams on May 12 after findings from the investigation of the crash involving Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece at Talladega Superspeedway. The investigation included looking over both the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, talking to both drivers and going through data.
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There were two updates made to the car for this weekend. Teams were also made aware that additional chassis updates could be forthcoming.
The updates going into effect for the Coca-Cola 600:
1. Six right side bar gussets may be added to the outlined locations in the diagram shown below. The gussets will be provided to the teams at no charge.
2. The front clip V-brace must be removed from the assembly.
NASCAR is conducting two days of crash tests at a facility in Ohio this week. It will be decided after those tests whether additional chassis updates will be implemented.
Larson and Preece were uninjured in the multi-car crash at Talladega last month. After Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson made contact off a late restart, Larson spun to the inside before coming back up the banking. When he did so, Preece t-boned Larson in the right-side door, the impact severely damaging the chassis and bars in the door.