NASCAR’s Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas was quite heated, literally. The drivers struggled with the Texan sun hitting them directly, and the asphalt’s heat-up further made things worse. While many did wear cooling suits, seeing AJ Allmendinger on the stretcher and Tyler Reif’s hospitalization right after the race (in Trucks) raised many questions.

But this only seems to be a more recent issue. Did the legendary drivers not face this? Or are the new-timers too sensitive? An insider has an interesting take on this, as the issue might have more to do with the current car’s design.

Are Gen-7 cars to blame?

“That hot air coming out of the radiator ends up wrapping around the A-post and into the cabin,” revealed former crew chief Todd Gordon. As per him, the new generation of cars has a massively different aero flow, which also affects the heat distribution during races.

“This car was much hotter than the old cars. Because now all that engine heat and radiator heat is actually dumping out on the hood, and it comes around the A-post and into the cabin,” he added.

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The Next-Gen car, introduced in the 2022 season, was a massive leap in the overall aerodynamics of the cars’ designs. The airflow was disrupted compared to the previous generation. Moreover, there was also the side window, which was mandated for these cars, allowing more hot air to flow towards the cockpit.

“So we’ve got a lot more air coming in, and the other piece is the exhaust runs right next to the frame rails and exhausts right beside the driver. So where we used to keep the exhaust pipes hung underneath the car, they’re now beside the frame rails and exit out the rocker panels,” Gordon further explained.

Apart from Allmendinger, Alex Bowman was taken to the infield care center as well, as Myatt Snider stepped in for him. Kyle Larson also struggled with his overheating car throughout the race.

Of course, these issues are not so persistent when it comes to other tracks. The likes of the Daytona and Atlanta are held in cooler environments. Meanwhile, the Circuit of the Americas race was running extremely hot (with temperatures in the higher 70s), and so could be the case for the upcoming race at the Phoenix Raceway.

Tyler Reif, who raced in the Truck Series at St. Petersburg, was also hospitalized for the heat issue. It raised a major question regarding the recent developments in the cooling suits that the drivers wear.

How does NASCAR’s cooling system work?

The new cooling suits introduced in NASCAR are designed to address the overheating issues that have been complained about. While changing the car’s aero to keep them cooler like the older days seems a little difficult, these cooling suits serve the purpose.

The cooling suit consists of a small box that acts like an air conditioning unit, which is then connected to a small hose running over the chiller. Throughout the race, the coolant circulates through the hose, which is then attached to a coiled shirt that the drivers wear under their fire suit. This, acting much similarly to a liquid-cooled computer, helps in keeping the drivers cool.

However, they can sometimes fail. When this happens, the drivers find themselves in a worse situation, as the hot liquid continues to run over their bodies. If this happens in a race like the one at COTA, which happened with a few, the drivers then have to be hospitalized because of the nature of the heat injuries they can face.

Lately, these suits have also been introduced in Formula 1 for especially hot races like the Qatar and Singapore Grand Prix. However, there hasn’t been a major case of such a failure. At the same time, however, NASCAR is expected to improve the technology, providing the drivers with better cooling material in the future.