‘Just increase the horsepower.’ This is a common solution that is put forward by NASCAR insiders and fans when it comes to the question of how to improve the current racing product. This was a solution that Kevin Harvick suggested earlier this month. This was a solution that Denny Hamlin also suggested last month. But crucially, this is a solution that NASCAR boss Steve Phelps isn’t really interested in.
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And it’s not like Phelps is closing that door without any reason. The President of NASCAR has a reasonable reason to rule out increasing horsepower in the near future. “I don’t think the answer is more horsepower because more horsepower is expensive,” Phelps said as per NBC Sports.
“If you ask a driver what’s going to solve it, they’re always going to say ‘Give me more horsepower.’ It’s a thing. I’m not a driver, but I’ve listened to enough drivers, and that’s their solution. So the question is, is that really what it is? I don’t know.”
So instead of increasing the horsepower, NASCAR, as Phelps claimed, would look at tweaking the other stuff. “I think there’s some gearing things that we’re looking at as well. Some shifting things,” he said.
What Kevin Harvick had to say about more horsepower in NASCAR
During a conversation with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his podcast show, Kevin Harvick revealed how he was concerned about the lack of power in the Next Gen racecars. “I just don’t know that there’s enough power in the racecar,” he said.
But while Harvick raised the need for more power in the cars, he also understood the aspect of there being more to it than just increasing the horsepower. “There’s way more to it than just saying, ‘Hey, we need more horsepower’. There’s the master plan of the car to bring more manufacturers and people in,” he added. It’s also worth mentioning that Denny Hamlin too pressed on the need for more horsepower in the racecars when it comes to the short-track package.
Then there’s, of course, the almost unanimous opinion of fans about this subject.
But in the end, it’s NASCAR who will make the decisions on what’s increased and what’s untouched. And as far as the subject of horsepower goes, Steve Phelps has made it clear that they’re not altering that aspect of the racecar for now.
