NASCAR wife reveals raceday anxiety over 'scary' next-gen car

A NASCAR Cup Series star's wife has admitted concern about the series' Next Gen cars, from her position on the sidelines.

Gianna Blaney, wife of 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan, has admitted that she and a number of others are 'more nervous' about the Next Gen cars from a wrecking perspective.

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The Next Gen car, introduced for the 2022 season, has been the subject of a number of safety concerns since its introduction, with Denny Hamlin calling near the end of that season for the car to be completely redesigned from the ground up.

NASCAR has mandated at least one change to the car in every full season since the car's introduction to combat new safety concerns, with 2024's headline issue a number of blow-over flips, or flips where the cause is not impact from another car.

Ryan Preece's Daytona wreck in 2025 was one of the most alarming of the bunch, the front of his car getting nudged just barely upward before catching the air and drifting further and further from the ground before flipping entirely, with Preece saying after the race: “When the car took off like that and it got really quiet, all I thought about was my daughter."

Gianna Blaney: I don't think we're going anywhere great with Next Gen car

Preece's poingent words were echoed in Blaney's comments on fellow NASCAR wife Haley Dillon's podcast this week, admitting that she's more scared by the wrecks and flips in the Next Gen car than she was in the past.

Speaking about supporting her husband, she said: “I sit and have anxiety…You know how hard it is for them to win just one race. I can only imagine what he’s thinking when he’s close to winning a race. I’m over here freaking out. I know how hard it is, how competitive it is. Every race, I swear, as he gets better, I get more nervous every time.”

"These new cars too, the Next-Gen cars. I think everyone is more nervous about these cars. Especially how a lot of the wrecks have looked, the flipping, especially last year...I don’t think we’re going anywhere great with that...it’s scary. So my nerves are more for him to just be safe.

"But obviously, when they don’t win, you have to be their support system. Like you just need to be proud of yourself and the day that you had. Like you’ve finished safely, that’s more important at the end of the day. You’re not like, injured, hurt, in an ambulance, a helicopter, or whatever.”

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