CONCORD, N.C. – NASCAR officials confirmed Wednesday that two tests of the NextGen car for the NASCAR Cup Series will take place next week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The first test, set for Nov. 16, will utilize the 2.32-mile ROVAL configuration that combines the majority of the 1.5-mile quad-oval with the track’s infield road course.
That test will be followed with a second session on Nov. 18 on the Charlotte oval layout.
The day in between the two tests will be used by NASCAR and track officials to change the track configuration.
Past NASCAR Cup Series champions Kurt Busch (2004) and Martin Truex Jr. (2017) will each wheel a Next Gen car prototype during the pair of test sessions. It will mark the first time that two prototypes of the new model are scheduled to be on track at the same time.
The most recent test of the new car was held in August at Dover Int’l Speedway, when now-Sunoco Rookie of the Year Cole Custer hit the track in NASCAR’s P3 prototype. That car was built by Richard Childress Racing in collaboration with NASCAR’s Research & Development team.
Monday’s test will be the first official NASCAR test of the NextGen car on a road course.
Action Express Racing, which competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, conducted a track day with their own Next Gen prototype on the Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway road course in August.