Just around a decade back, NASCAR cars raced each other with nearly 1000 HP engines under their hood. What the fans got to witness back then was an unbridled showcase of power and speed that resulted in some of the best years of stock car racing. Cars today have just over half of that power in their engines and naturally, the men behind the wheel haven’t been happy about it.
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Engines on the Next-Gen car introduced in 2022 run with a max output of 670 HP. This results in the performance of cars being paralleled to a level that creates issues in passing, especially on short tracks. Several drivers including Denny Hamlin have been demanding that NASCAR increase the horsepower to tackle this challenge over the last few years.
With the first short track race of 2024 passing by at Phoenix, the demands have popped up once again and this time it is on the back of NASCAR’s unsatisfying alternative to a horsepower increase. The sanctioning body had incorporated a new short-track package for the Phoenix race to enable better passing and create a better racing experience. However, drivers haven’t found it to be very effective.
Additionally, the 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson discussed the same on a recent episode of Dale Jr. Download and expressed his criticism. He said to Earnhardt Jr., “I thought it was just a little bit better. And, like you said, Phoenix is Phoenix and as long as I’ve been going there, it’s been very hard to pass and the race has been fairly similar to what we had on Sunday.”
He continued, advocating for more horsepower, “I think, when you have that power, you can use different lines to accelerate. I hope someday in my career that they can at least try it. Take us to somewhere, Richmond, somewhere, and go test. Go test at Martinsville. Try it out.”
Larson’s words come after Denny Hamlin ruled out, on Actions Detrimental, any change other than that in horsepower being a highly viable solution for better short-track racing. Hamlin had said, “I think any horsepower I think you can add will make the racing better. It is hard to pass because we are all on the gas so much. You have to get us out of the gas whether through the tire or the horsepower.”
NASCAR’s reluctance to increase horsepower is based on an unjustifiable excuse, according to Kyle Larson
Talking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the Phoenix race, Brad Moran, Managing Director of the Cup Series, said that NASCAR hesitating to increase horsepower was only due to additional costs and the potential entry of new manufacturers. However, Kyle Larson doesn’t accept this as a sensible excuse.
He continued to Earnhardt Jr., “They’ve always used the excuse. ‘Well, we’re trying to keep power to where other manufacturers will come in’. But as long as I’ve been in the sport, 10 years, it’s been the same three manufacturers… I’ve yet to see someone new come in and all these engine builders and teams keep saying it’s not going to cost any different to do it.”
Hamlin said about the “additional costs”, on Actions Detrimental, “The engine bills are the same, I’ve been saying this forever. The engine bills are the same now as they were when they were 900. We buy engines, we know.” Coming from the co-owner of a relatively new NASCAR team, Hamlin’s words paint a picture of reality that is far from NASCAR’s version.
As things stand, not a lot of drivers see eye to eye with NASCAR on horsepower. This keeps the matter festering for longer on the promotion’s yet-to-solved list. A resolution will hopefully be found soon.
