DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR officials have confirmed that the Next Gen race car, which was scheduled to make its competition debut in 2021, has been delayed until 2022.

The delay is in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought racing across the United States and the world to a halt and prevented NASCAR officials from testing the car.

“Due to challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic, the debut of the Next Gen car will be delayed until 2022,” said John Probst, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation. “The decision was made in collaboration with the OEMs and team owners. We will continue to develop the Next Gen car, and a revised testing timeline will be shared when more information is available.”

The Next Gen car, which has been in development for the last few years, made its testing last October at Richmond (Va.) Raceway with Austin Dillon at the wheel.

Since then, Joey Logano, Erik Jones and William Byron have taken turns at the wheel of the new stock car.

Clint Bowyer was scheduled to test the Next Gen car at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, but that test was canceled amid the coronavirus outbreak.