SPORTS

(Left) NASCAR’s “Next Gen” cars will provide better traction around corners, driver Kyle Larson said. (Right) Some in the racing community are uncertain about the future of race cars after NASCAR retired the Gen-6 car at Phoenix Raceway. (Photos courtesy of Amanda Valle)

NASCAR FROM PAGE 18 ing, which provide for a wider range of adjustments for different tracks and road courses.

A single manufacturer will provide the steel-tube frame for the Next Gen car’s chassis to all teams, with substructures that are bolted onto it — again designed to lower costs by making the cars, and repairing them, more affordable.

NASCAR’s power specifications for the Ford, Chevy and Toyota engines in the cars will remain the same.

“I’ve only made a handful of laps in it on a road course,” said Larson, who dominated the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series and wrapped up the championship in Phoenix. “In the laps that I ran around the road course, it has way more grip, better tires, brakes, and can carry more top speed in the corners.”

Lastly, Next Gen’s build is a cheaper, one-dimensional car, providing an opportunity for new manufacturers to jump into the NASCAR scene. And it is designed to make NASCAR drivers prove their skill on the track even more than before.

Still, after a great run with Gen-6 cars, some in the racing community worry about what the next generation of cars will bring.

“I’m afraid it is going to be like the iRock series,” said Michael Bergmann, a fan at the NASCAR Cup Series race in Phoenix. “I’m afraid it will be the same over and over and nobody can pass anybody. It should be run what you brought and hope you brought enough. And if you don’t bring enough, you lose.”

NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin had similar thoughts on the Next Gen cars, but he is counting on his Toyota No. 11 team to figure it out.

“We don’t know what to expect,” Hamlin said. “I think it’s going to be like the Car of Tomorrow. I don’t know how we will prepare, but I’m trusting the team to guide the ship in the right direction.”

Even though uncertainty looms over the new generation of racecars, experienced NASCAR drivers and their teams are likely to adapt quickly.

“Everyone is so good in the Cup Series that you can throw any package at us and we will all get up to speed very quickly,” Larson said.

The Next Gen series makes its debut on Feb. 17 at Daytona Speedway. The cars will make their debut at Phoenix Raceway on March 13 in the Ruoff Mortgage 500.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

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With ‘Copy That,’ Evans explores others’ music

BY ALAN SCULLEY Glendale Star Contributing Writer

Sara Evans has a current album, “Copy That,” out, and there was a genuine sense of not only excitement, but surprise, in her voice when she began talking about the project in a recent phone interview.

“I’d have to say it’s probably, I mean, I hate to say this because I never want to sound insincere, but this could honestly be my favorite record I’ve ever done,” Evans said. “That says a lot because A, I’ve made, what, nine albums now, but also I’ve written a lot of my own songs and they’ve all been my babies.”

Evans is referring to the fact that “Copy That” is made up of her versions of songs made famous by other artists. Evans said she realizes that artists commonly say each new album is the best one they’ve done. She’s also aware that cover albums are sometimes dismissed as less important and less work-intensive than albums of original material.

But clearly, “Copy That” is not meant to be a stepchild of Evans’ nine previous studio albums (plus a Christmas record). Evans and producer Jarrad K (Kritzstein) put plenty of thought and work into the project, beginning with choosing the songs for the album.

“When it got down to it, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to pick the songs? This is way more stressful than I thought it was going to be, because the songs are endless,’” Evans said. “I knew we could probably only have somewhere between 10 and 15 songs.”

The approach Evans took to how she wanted to treat the songs also required meticulous effort.

“What we decided is we were really going to – that’s why I named the album ‘Copy That’ – we were just going to copy these songs and not try to make it all quirky and different to where the songs were kind of unrecognizable,” Evans said. “He (Jarrad K) was diligent about that. He really worked my tail off.”

An example is the version of the Kenny Loggins/Stevie Nicks hit “Whenever I Call You Friend” (which features Phillip Sweet from Little Big Town sharing lead vocals with Evans and Evans’ two daughters, Olivia and Audrey, on backing vocals).

“Like someone would put a part on and then we would go back and listen to the original and we were like, ‘Oh, we missed that and there’s also that’ and then we would put that on. We were just like incredibly diligent about that,” she said.

The musical relationship that developed between Evans and Jarrad K is one of the reasons “Copy That” became such a special experience for the singer. Evans discovered Jarrad K, who’s best known for his production work with Weezer and the Goo Goo Dolls, after her manager suggested she listen to the latest album by Ruston Kelly.

Evans considers Kelly’s music bro-country and she is no fan of that country sub-genre. But she became obsessed with Kelly’s “Dying Star” album, which was produced by, you guessed it, Jarrad K.

“I was just like, all the intricate details of the production and crazy little drum rolls and stupid, just stupid guitar parts that ended up being amazing, I was just like ‘OK, I want this guy to produce my next record. He has to,’” Evans said.

It turned out that Evans’ hunch that she would mesh musically with Jarrad K was spot on.

“We are literally kindred spirits. We are soul siblings. We are musical soulmates. And we had the best fi rst meeting. I just couldn’t stop ask him things like ‘Why did you do this on Ruston’s record?’ And ‘Where did you get the idea?’” Evans said. “I always tell people that we fell in love musically.”

Another highlight for Evans is that “Copy That” became a family endeavor. In addition to having daughters Olivia, 18, and Audrey, 17, sing on the album, her 22-year-old son, Avery (who has been in Evans’ touring band in recent years), is the featured guitarist on the album.

“Avery plays guitar all over the record,” Evans said. “So almost all of the guitar parts that you hear are him, but he particularly stands out on the Wallfl owers’ ‘6th Avenue Heartache.’ That whole entire outro of the soloing and stuff is him.” Evans says the surroundings for the project also contributed to her fondness for “Copy That.” The album was made shortly after she moved back to Nashville last year after living for a decade-plus in Birmingham, Alabama, where her husband, former University of Alabama star quarterback Jay Barker, has a radio show. It’s where the couple, who married in 2008, raised Barker’s four children from his fi rst marriage and Evans’ three children from her fi rst marriage. “That is a part of the reason that this is my favorite album because, I don’t know if you’ve ever moved away from somewhere and then moved back, but it’s an amazing feeling, and especially how much Nashville has changed and seeing all the old new blasts from the past, people from my past,” Evans said. “People have also been so kind to me about it, like welcoming me back.”

Evans’ enthusiasm is apparent in the performances on “Copy That,” an album that gets a strong element of familiarity thanks to the faithful renditions of the songs. The choice of songs, however, has some surprises.

There are a couple of country classics (Patsy Cline’s “She’s Got You” and Hank Williams’ I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”) and some ’70s-era country tinged pop tunes (“Whenever I Call You Friend” and Poco’s “Crazy Love”) one might expect from Evans. But “Copy That” also boasts several seemingly left-fi eld choices, such as the Knack’s power-pop hit “My Sha-

Sara Evans, who recently released the album “Copy That,” is performing Christmas songs at The Vista Center for the Arts. (Photo by Lowfi eld) SEE EVANS PAGE 21