Can Honda be the next manufacturer to enter NASCAR as hybridization looms over stock car racing?

NASCAR is one of the last avenues in the realm of motorsports that can be imagined with something other than a good old American V8 powering their race cars. The sound of 40+ cars going flat out around the Daytona 500 at the start of the season is something every fan cherishes and looks forward to.

So much so that the iconic noise of stock car racing is one of the defining factors of NASCAR, differentiating it from other genres of racing around the world. Hendrick Motorsports' Garage 56 at Le Mans earlier this year and the fans' reception to the same proved this point further, with fans still hungry for thundering engines in a world full of hybrid and electric technology.

As much as the noise plays a part in the sport, electrification, or at the very least hybridization, is on the horizon for NASCAR. In a day and age where sustainability and efficiency tower over other aspects, stock car racing will also have to comply down the line.

Roger Penske, the man behind the NTT IndyCar Series and Ryan Blaney's championship-winning Cup team this year, seems to think hybridization is what the sport should look into. Just imagine, the addition of a hybrid system along with the quintessential V8 could let us have the best of both worlds.

Honda, a famed engine supplier in the IndyCar Series, might be one OEM that would consider joining the sport amid the rising costs of its open-wheeled engine program. There have been rumors about Dodge making its comeback in the sport for years now and frankly, with the new shift to electric road cars for Dodge, NASCAR seems to be the last avenue they would seem to be exploring.

Senior Honda representative on the OEM's possibility of investment in NASCAR

Honda's Motorsports Manager Chuck Schifsky recently spoke about the Japanese automotive giant's possibility of joining NASCAR in the future.

Rising cost of operations as one of IndyCar's two engine suppliers, Honda has been looking at how the financials of the future of American open-wheeled racing lie, concerning major rule changes surrounding the engine package.

Schifsky spoke about how stock car racing could be on the manufacturer's horizon if the IndyCar program does not progress. He elaborated about the same in an interview with RACER.com:

"We’re looking for a wholesale change to the engine regulations so that we can eliminate fives and tens of millions of dollars of annual technical costs, because if we don’t, then it’s too much money, and we will go do something else. That something else could be NASCAR, or a further investment in our Formula 1 effort. Or something that isn’t motorsports at all."

What are your thoughts on Honda accompanying Toyota as the second Japanese automotive giant to take on the challenge of stock car racing?