NASCAR is set to make a significant change in 2026, with the Cup Series seeing an increase in horsepower from 670 to 750 at tracks less than 1 1/2 miles in length, along with all five road courses. This decision comes amid a barrage of criticism of the current generation of cars, which was even outqualified by the ARCA Menards Series back in August. Following the announcement, Hendrick Motorsports' championship hopeful Chase Elliott praised NASCAR for taking the initiative, saying, 'I think it's a good effort for sure, and I think until we give that a go, who knows? It's something, right? It's something, and they're trying. So I applaud them for the effort and trying to keep the engine shops in mind.'
However, teammate Kyle Larson, also a title hopeful, accompanied his praise with a word of warning. He said, 'I would encourage everybody to temper their expectations, like, it's not way different.'
The decision to only raise the horsepower by 80 was made in part due to the inherent cost to the teams and manufacturers, as well as the litany of other adjustments to the engines and cars, which will rise in tandem with more power. Elliott's optimistic outlook was mirrored to an extent by Larson, although he added, 'It's not going to fix everything, you know?'
NASCAR president Steve O'Donnell explained that the organization is open to making further changes down the line to help make improvements to the NextGen car. He said, 'We're absolutely open to continuing to tweak on it. I think we just had to almost stop the bleeding of the cost and now really concentrate on, you got the baseline, make the racing better every single day.'
The changes could involve allowing teams to return to making certain car parts themselves, opening up NASCAR's cost cap, or possibly opening the door to manufacturers developing their own technologies independently. However, it seems clear that ultimately such decisions would come down to the financial implications involved.
