DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- As Daytona Speedweeks (OK, it's actually Speedweek now) have reached full speed leading into Thursday night's dual 150-mile qualifying races, everyone in the Cup Series garage seems to agree that NASCAR's newly christened rides, the so-called Next Gen machines, were needed. OK, they agree for the most part.
Everyone also concurs, for the most part, that the new cars look pretty cool. They are in agreement, for the most part, that their new Camaros, Mustangs and Camrys are more durable than their predecessors and that they put more control into the gloves of the drivers and less inside the laptops of the engineers.