The Evolution of Stock Car to Race Car: Seven generations of NASCAR race cars explained

The spotlight shines on all seven generations of NASCAR race cars as we explain why every version is special and how innovation made each generation great.
The NASCAR race cars in the 1950s and '60s were truly stock cars. The evolution of the car took on many forms through the years to bring us to where we are now with the sophisticated Next Gen race car.
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[sulphurous]

I just wish there was an official video game where you could drive all 7 generations of cars.

[jonathangrey]

I simply cannot fathom how in the Generation 4 segment, they never discussed how the car bodies became more skewed for front, rear, and side downforce! How could you NOT discuss something that defined the late gen 4 "twisted sister" cars?

[cliffordkirkes]

Wow! Whatever you guys did to up-convert the old SD video to HD looks absolutely amazing. Thanks for making this. Loved it.

[dmoran]

Its really sad that it took Dale Sr dying for nascar to focus on safety and not because of the 3 drivers that died in 2000 from a basilar skull fracture

[Taydg]

Ive always thought the gen 6 certainly looked great but I think this gave them too much credit. To say “fans loved it” is a bit of a overstatement. Good video though.

[StevenP]

this was awesome! well done I'd love to see a full documentary about this

[mlwilliam]

For some reason, NASCAR seems to refuse to get any air under the car at all. The racing was always better up until the mid-2000s when everyone started coil-binding. Then came the splitter, now the diffuser. Racing is obviously better when mechanical grip is the game. Once you seal the cars to the ground it becomes about air which in turn makes it about track position. Take away horsepower and it just keeps getting harder to pass. Now everyone just wrecks trying to go 8 wide on restarts because that’s the only time you can pass. No matter how many fans they lose they just don’t seem to get it. High-hp low-downforce, and cars not sealed to the track is better racing.

[Pablo-]

I remembered playing the old EA Nascar games on my PS2/N64 with Generation 4 and still enjoyed the games. Nothing can beat old school games!

[JacobNascar]

I wish I could've experienced Nascar in the 80s and 90s. I wasn't born til 96. I remember having the Nascar toys and even a Jeff Gordon ammo box as my toy box. Saw my first race in 2005 at Talledega. I didn't grow up in a racing family but my family always knew how much I loved racing. I wish the sport would return back to its fanfare and popularity it used to have. I even got my best friend into Nascar in 2020 and took him to his first race at Bristol and we've been going to Talledega since

[lanceclark]

I've been watching Nascar racing for over 45 years and the one thing I took away from this is that the old timers in this video understand that you have to evolve if this sport is going to survive. You can't run carburetors and solid axials forever. Also what I've noticed is that life has changed so much that it was impossible for this sport to stay the same. They could be racing hybrids in the next 10 years and you know what? I'm not mad about it. I will continue to embrace the evolution of the sport as long as they do it right.

[lethalmikado]

4th gen cars are just beautiful design in my opinion. My favorite generation

[travisburton]

Gen 6 was the best in my opinion, 2014 model specifically.
Very safe chassis, 900hp and incredible racing.
That doesn't take anything away from the perfection of the sport from the 80s to early 2000s, but I feel that one year NASCAR had all the boxes checked.

[Dr.]

Gen 3, (81-91) was the best they have ever been, production based bodies, manufacturers had to use engines that were in production, (their own engines), the racing was far better and that's why it was so much more popular back then.

[americanpride]

10:20 mad respect for admitting faults and not acting like youve gotten it right every time ever

[revelare_xvii]

Nascar stock cars have probably had the strangest evolution of any type of race car out there.

[larryouellette]

I m 71 yrs old I ve watched the development of Nascar since the mid sixties I got my fix every Saturday on Jim McKay s Wide World of Sports it wasn t more than the final lap or a big crash but I was hooked periodic races and then full time races in the 80 s I love the sport and all the characters from the King to what we see today Chase Elliot and the new Young Guns God Bless America and God Bless NASCAR oh my fav racer was Senior

[americanpride]

15:50 As a fan what I would like to see in nascars future is factory cars from the lot, bought by teams who strip it out, add some race parts, some bodywork, and safety stuff. Gotta keep the body, frame, engine, drivetrain. This is a way how manufacturers are important, win on sunday sell on monday, and makes the fans feel its more relatable

[chuckiefinster]

Great video, really sold the gen 4 and 5 short tho. I wanted to hear a little about when the bodies started being fully fabbed, when the templates changed, when they quit using factory hood, roof, decklid, etc

[JohnMarineTube]

The Hendrick Motorsports Garage 56 Camaro ZL1 that raced the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans can contribute to the development of the Gen-7 as well as possibly whatever becomes of Gen-8. It is amazing just how much this series has evolved over the years and also how much the vehicles have evolved (including Trucks and Modifieds).

[leerjet]

Gen 4 car was the best racing Nascar ever seen