Chevrolet studying source of Tyler Reddick’s prop shaft failure in Next Gen debut at Clash

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – The head of Chevrolet’s NASCAR program said a damaged prop shaft caused the mechanical failure for Tyler Reddick while leading Sunday in the Clash at the Coliseum.

The No. 8 Chevrolet was leading under caution during Lap 53 on the temporary 0.25-mile oval when Reddick suddenly slowed with what the Richard Childress Racing driver initially thought was a broken transaxle.

“He was getting ready to restart, trying to get heat in the tires and dropped the clutch a little too much, too abruptly,” Dr. Eric Warren, director of NASCAR Programs for General Motors, told NBC Sports in an interview Monday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame (where Jesse Iwuji‘s new No. 34 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series was unveiled). “So it was damage with the prop shaft. It was not the transaxle. The drive shaft basically now is called the prop shaft with the way the transaxle works.

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“I think (the Coliseum) track being really small, it’s a cause of a little concern at Martinsville just because that much gear and that violent of a restart probably would be something to think about. At the time, we hadn’t really seen that issue in the past, so we need to get into it a little bit. The cars had a lot more driveoff. I think a lot of drivers were surprised at how well they were able to drive off. There’s some technical work to see on was that (failure) unique to something we haven’t seen before? Was it a specific part failure? A new type of part? I’m sure we’ll dig into that in detail and have good answers.”

Sunday marked the debut of the Next Gen car, which is a revolutionary new concept in which Cup Series teams essentially are assembling spec-type cars with