"Horsepower is expensive": NASCAR official shuts down drivers' and fans' calls for more powerful Cup Series cars amid rising costs

Heading into the 2024 season, NASCAR is focused on improving the racing at short-track and road courses. The next-gen package introduced in 2022 has failed to deliver exciting action on the short tracks, compared to the rest of the ovals.

Although NASCAR had previously stated that it was open to any solutions that improved the racing action, President Steve Phelps ruled out an increase in horsepower as a possible solution.

Speaking to the media in the fourth annual Race Industry Week series of webinars, Phelps made it clear that the costs of increasing the horsepower weren't feasible for the manufacturers.

“I don’t think the answer is more horsepower because more horsepower is expensive,” Phelps was quoted by NBC as saying.

NASCAR Analysts and drivers have campaigned for an increase in horsepower as the only solution to fix the package. Steve Phelps is wary of the outcry for an increase in power but adds that they are researching different avenues for possible fixes including gearing/shifting.

“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. I think there’s some gearing things that we’re looking at as well. Some shifting things,” he said.

NASCAR's previous short track tests with various aerodynamic packages failed to deliver satisfying results. Hence, the focus is now shifted to eliminate shifting through the addition of a new transaxle.

The post-season short track test is scheduled on December 5-6 at Phoenix Raceway and will see the introduction of the new parts. The six-team test will include drivers - Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Corey LaJoie, and Chris Buescher.

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NASCAR President confirms three Cup Series broadcasters for 2025

The media rights for the NASCAR Cup Series have traditionally been split between Fox and NBC for much of the last decade, with the existing deal expiring at the end of the 2024 season.

NASCAR president Steve Phelps confirmed that the new media deal for 2025 and beyond will include additional partners along with Fox and NBC.

“We are going to have an additional partner and we may have two additional partners,” Phelps said. “That’s kind of where we’re trying to figure out in these last few weeks — what that’s going to look like, but we already know we’re going to have more partners.”

Reports from SBJ suggest Amazon and TNT are currently favorites to secure streaming rights for a mid-season stretch of 10 races.

Phelps noted that having the sport broadcasted on TV, cable TV, and streaming would be a "smart thing to do", with the uncertainty of streaming or cable services in the foreseeable future.