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The Next Gen car debuted with only minor issues at its first race.

The NASCAR Next Gen car finally made its race debut at the Los Angeles Coliseum this weekend for NASCAR's preseason Clash exhibition race. A lot was on the line as these brand-new cars were driven in anger for the first time. While there were a few retirements, the debut of the car was generally a success from a technical perspective.

Debuting the Next Gen car at the L.A. Coliseum was not only a risk from a marketing perspective, but also technically, especially when you consider that the first race for the new independent rear suspension and transaxle would be in the confines of a quarter-mile short track. The Clash and the qualifying races that preceded the main event put on a classic short track show. There was plenty of beating and banging and glowing brake rotors with the best 23 cars making it to the big show.

Everything about this event was new, even down to the way the "garage area" was arranged. The typical infield arrangement of trailers was not a possibility, so teams were set up in designated areas just outside the Coliseum. The paddock felt like a Saturday night short track race crossed with a street circuit.

This was also the first time the Next Gen car would undergo technical inspection by NASCAR officials. The familiar Optical Scanning System (OSS) built by Hawk-Eye Innovations for NASCAR was in use, including a new module to scan the underwing below the car in addition to the body on top. This proved to be a learning experience for both NASCAR and the teams as crew chief Rodney Childers shared with Racing America that the under-car scanner requires "some work to do to get that thing where it needs to be." Outside of that, inspection seemed to be the typical affair that we’ve come to expect at NASCAR races. The main difference was that penalties weren’t imposed for failures since this was a preseason exhibition race.

Once cars hit the track for practice it was obvious that drivers were no longer in testing mode. Preparing for the race, they looked for the best possible lines and explored how to make use of the new, larger brakes. Qualifying put on a show as drivers tried to get their tires as warm as possible and get a good launch. They only had a warm-up lap followed by two timed laps.

Sunday morning brought the first technical notice as NASCAR allowed the Chevrolet and Ford teams to modify their radiator duct exit louvers to reduce heat. Those ducts are one of the big changes from the previous generation, expelling hot air from the hood and preventing teams from taping the grill during races to gain an aero advantage. The louvers were modeled and designed prior to this race being announced, meaning they were never designed to operate at such low speeds, hence the need to remove them for the Clash to allow better airflow and engine cooling. The Toyota cars did not require changes since they don't have louvers on their radiator duct exits.

Once the heats began, the drivers went into full short-track racing mode, bumping and sliding as they tried to get into the transfer spots in order to make the main event later in the day. Things heated up even further as they went into the last-chance qualifier races, but everyone who qualified for the feature was able to make it into the event without any significant repairs or changes.

The feature race brought more of the short track action we'd seen earlier in the day, including some crashes. The most notable one came when Justin Haley's No. 31 Chevy hit the wall, sustaining left-front damage and forcing Haley to ultimately retire—the suspension and steering damage appeared to be so bad, the left-front wheel couldn't turn. This car will likely be studied to see how it handled the crash, and how it lives up to the ultimate goal of modular repairability by installing a new front-clip assembly.

We saw a lighter crash later on where Ryan Blaney's No. 12 tangled with Erik Jones in No. 43, a hit that appeared to damage the right rear suspension on Blaney’s Ford. Luckily, the hit was small enough that Blaney's crew was able to repair it. Based on the images we saw on the broadcast, it looked like the toe link on that corner snapped as it's designed to do, with crew able to swap in a spare quickly thanks to easy accessibility.

The biggest technical story of the day was the new 5-speed sequential transaxle which saw its race debut yesterday. The sequential shifting transaxle replaced the H-pattern 4-speed manual that has been used for generations, so everyone was watching the gearbox closely. The first driveline-related issues appeared to surface yesterday as the No. 8 Chevy of Tyler Reddick and the No. 14 Ford of Chase Briscoe were retired during the race, both with alleged transaxle issues.

The transaxle is a sealed assembly that is supplied by Xtrac. Teams are not allowed to touch anything that is shaded in blue in this illustration. pic.twitter.com/77tUjDRQ2i

After additional research and conversation with multiple people inside the NASCAR paddock, it appears the failures were actually outside of the transaxle on the "SuperFlex" carbon composite disc that connects the prop shaft to the transaxle input.

According to team sources that spoke with Road & Track, these driveline failures were likely a result of how this SuperFlex disc fastens to the prop shaft and the input flange. There did not appear to be any issues with the prop shafts or the transaxles themselves. Based on the information shared with R&T, the issue that caused damage at the SuperFlex connection appears to be one that should not come up at future races.

What I am hearing is that the likely issue with these cars is the "SuperFlex" disc that connects the propshaft to the transaxle. This is a carbon fiber piece made by Lentus. (Part I below). pic.twitter.com/d8QHk58toD

Outside of those driveline problems, we saw a few other issues pop up, including a steering line failure on Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota, but based on what was shared on the broadcast, that sounded like it was secondary damage due to a belt coming loose and hitting one of the lines going into the steering rack. One of the most controversial changes on the Next Gen car has been the move from 15-inch steel wheels to 18-inch aluminum wheels, but as we saw, these forged aluminum wheels from BBS took the short track beating and banging with no issue and no lost tires.

Overall, the Next Gen car appeared to exceed expectations in its first race. After following the new NASCAR design for over two years, this exhibition race seemed like the perfect debut, allowing both NASCAR and the teams to test their cars—and related equipment like that Optical Scanning Station—in real race conditions, without huge penalties. It's certainly helpful to have encountered these hiccups before the cars make their points-race debut at the Daytona 500, where they’ll be put to the real test as they go through hundreds of miles of super-speedway racing.