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Elliott Flags Hazardous Cockpit Heat in NASCAR’s Next Gen Cars After COTA Incidents

Elliott says airflow changes bathe drivers in hotter air that overwhelms fragile cooling shirts.

Overview

  • Drivers reported extreme in-car temperatures at COTA, with multiple cool-shirt failures during the race.
  • AJ Allmendinger’s cooling suit quit working, and he received medical attention after exiting his car.
  • Alex Bowman withdrew mid-race for medical help and was later ruled out of Phoenix with vertigo.
  • Chase Elliott said Next Gen airflow and dual exhaust route hotter air over the car, reducing natural cooling, especially in traffic.
  • Elliott noted wider adoption of cooling shirts but warned the systems can fail in saturated heat and said he is unsure what fix NASCAR could apply.