It has been over two decades since a new manufacturer joined NASCAR. Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota are the players currently fielding entries in the sport. NASCAR President Steve Phelps has provided reasons to be optimistic about the entry of a new car maker over the past several years, but nothing has come to fruition so far.
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In a recent report by Sports Business Journal, he once reiterated that a new manufacturer could be joining the ranks. He said, “We are having robust discussions with a number of [original equipment) partners that someday, if I had to guess and were a betting man, something is going to hit. I just don’t know with whom or the timing of that.”
For a while last year, it was hinted that Honda could be the proposed new player. Dodge and Hyundai were rumored to be in discussions with the promotion as well. But there has been no official word from the headquarters in Daytona. So, what’s causing all this delay in bringing in a fresh face?
Phelps noted that not all car makers manufacture the V8 engines that the Next Gen car uses. The investment to make them is massive, and companies would have to pitch in nine-figure amounts to enter the sport. This is not a decision that can be taken without extensive thought and planning. Also, there is one other hurdle that Phelps continued to point out.
Why manufacturers hesitated to join NASCAR before 2019
The declining viewership and TV ratings after 2008 had led many sponsors and OEMs to believe that NASCAR wouldn’t last long or that it wasn’t a viable area to make business investments. Phelps noted that this was one of the core reasons for a new manufacturer not being seen for this long. However, that landscape has changed now.
He said that there are many positive factors, such as a rise in television viewership, that are causing manufacturers around the world to be interested in NASCAR. “We know that there are a current couple of OEs that are really kicking the tires hard, and that’s a good thing for us,” he said. “Will it come to fruition? I don’t know, but I feel good about it.”
General Motorsports announced last year that it would enter Formula 1 with its Cadillac brand in 2026. This news was disappointing for a lot of NASCAR fans who were expecting similar announcements to be made in stock car racing. Hopefully, the news will come rather sooner than later.
