For a long time, many in NASCAR have been calling for changes to the Next Gen cars, particularly regarding horsepower. Thankfully, President Steve O’Donnell has put the speculation about upgrades or no changes to rest and finally issued a statement that, once again, is likely to divide the community.
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The horsepower will increase to 750 from 670, as had long been rumored, but only at select NASCAR Cup Series tracks in 2025. This comes on the heels of mounting pressure from drivers, teams, and fans calling for a return to higher power in the Next Gen era, which began in 2022.
The bump in horsepower is expected to separate the men from the boys, placing greater emphasis on throttle control, tire management, and racecraft through variable on- and off-throttle times.
Breaking the news on The Dale Jr. Download, O’Donnell explained, “So why 750? Why not 800? Why not a 1000? So, if you look at where we are today, where we can go without completely changing over the industry… It costs a lot of money to go racing.”
“And so, whatever you do, you want to make sure that if you’re going to change the horsepower within the car, you got to match it up with the aero, you got to match it up with your braking, all these different things come into play.”
The decision also didn’t come out of thin air, as O’Donnell further clarified. It wasn’t as simple as pressing the gas pedal, and there was a lot to take into account.
“You make a change, you got to factor in tires, where we going, all those things. So, 750 we looked at. We hear the fans, we hear the industry yes we want to try and see what will work here. If you went beyond 750 we looked at almost 40 to $50 million cost to the industry, and so if you look at our job, is yeah, you want to make a call right away, but you got to think about the out years.”
O’Donnell added that new manufacturers eyeing a NASCAR entry, such as Dodge or potentially Honda, are content with the current engine landscape and do not want to fix what isn’t broken. That is why they would only agree to a change that the sport can maintain in the coming years. The 750-HP mark, he noted, meets every requirement for cost, performance, and parity, earning approval from all three current OEMs: Toyota, Ford, and Chevrolet.
Under the new rule, horsepower will rise from 670 to 750 at every road course and track under 1.5 miles in length. Road courses affected include Circuit of The Americas (COTA), Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, and the upcoming San Diego Street Circuit.
On the oval side, the change will impact Bowman Gray Stadium, Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Phoenix Raceway, Richmond Raceway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
NASCAR will go from 670hp to 750hp at tracks under 1.5 miles and road courses next year: Bowman Gray, COTA, Phoenix, Darlington, Martinsville, Bristol, Watkins Glen, Dover, Nashville, San Diego, Sonoma, North Wilkesboro, Iowa, Richmond, Loudon, WWTR Gateway, Charlotte road course
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 8, 2025
The announcement split the fanbase right down the middle. Some hailed it as a step in the right direction. On X, one fan wrote, “Its a start people this is a step in the right directions,” while another added, “A good step in the right direction and I’m glad it’s 750. This app is hilarious with people wanting more like the early 2000s. Which is funny because people seemed to be more upset with the racing then than now because they were too fast to really race.”
Others, however, weren’t buying it, calling the move a “band-aid on a bullet wound,” saying, “Band-Aid on a bullet would. It should be 900hp, unrestricted. Make the cars like they were in the 2000s where it was easy for drivers to lose control. NASCAR would be more respected as a Motorsport if they pushed 1000hp.”
Another chimed in with an image of a V8 engine, captioned, “15 years ago they had 870hp. And yes this matters. It matters to fans. Horsepower is an attractant. Without it, these cars aren’t cool. And cool is also an attractant. 950+ hp would bring in a sizable audience. 750hp is not enough.”
As for other potential changes, O’Donnell confirmed that no announcements on the playoff format will come until after the 2025 season concludes. Though he didn’t tip his hand on specifics, he hinted that NASCAR is leaning away from the one-race championship finale. He also noted that driver input, particularly from Christopher Bell, has been helping shape the future of the format.
