NASCAR is keeping us at the edge of our chairs. Since February 2024, talks have been going on about a potential fourth OEM joining the sport. The possibilities were many, and rumors narrowed down to Honda, a Japanese car manufacturer. However snazzy that deal seems, Dale Earnhardt Jr. drops warnings about a new OEM. Its conditions for joining NASCAR may not look pretty to fans or drivers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is wary of more changes

As we all know, NASCAR has been in flux for a long time. Horsepower has been in a state of decline since 2014 when cars operated at 900 hp. That was scaled down to 750 in 2015, then to 550 in 2018. There was a slight bump to 670 hp in 2022. The sport has also tried to keep abreast of the growing electric vehicle trend. During the Chicago Street Race in July 2024, NASCAR rolled out its first hybrid model – the ABB NASCAR EV prototype. All these changes are lingering at the back of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s mind, as NASCAR president Steve Phelps recently dropped encouraging comments about a fourth OEM.

The veteran racer believes that a fourth OEM can potentially muddle things up more, and deviate the sport from its traditional position. In a Dale Jr. Download episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr. highlighted his concerns: “The motivation for a new OEM coming in…what has that got to do with our sales in the United States? The main bother or the main concern for me is, what are we willing to do to get them in? Oh man, I’m not going to like any of it. Is it hybrid engines, is it less horsepower…what is their hesitation? Why are they not diving head f—— first, because this is awesome s— right?” 

Dale Jr made a comparison with IMSA, where numerous OEMs operate. “If you go into IMSA right, there’s all types of different motors…It’s so exotic – there’s OEMs coming in from all over the world to one place to race. So yes, it’s a necessary thing to have a balance of power.” However, NASCAR’s current Cup Series car uses a fuel-injected V8 engine. So Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also worried that a fourth car manufacturer would tweak this technical aspect as well. He cautioned the officials about this. “In NASCAR, we’ve had V8 engines and carburetors forever…That’s kind of American…You got to be careful about how you evolve away from that. – they have been careful and slow.”

Nevertheless, there is no limit to Steve Phelps’s optimism. The NASCAR official emphasized the positive growth of the sport that could play a role.

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Top Comment by sammycorvette

Time to get dodge involved again

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Debate

During the early 2000s, NASCAR hit its golden age peak. TV ratings topped the charts and the popularity was undeniable. However, following the Great Recession between 2008 and 2010, the sport was on a downward trend. The introduction of the elimination playoff format in 2014 did little to help, and the climb back up was slow. Yet things are looking up again – as was evident when NASCAR signed a $7.7 Billion media rights deal at the end of 2023. Three new media giants are on board for the 2025 season – Amazon Prime, TNT, and The CW. So President Steve Phelps believes that this would help a car manufacturer to express faith in the sport.

Steve Phelps pointed out how things were icky before 2019. But that narrative is changing: “We were finding some difficulties because [the car industry] believed that we were in some distress, we were declining. And now we’re not, with a different relevance, different reputation to the brand, some modest growth in television, attendance has come back, so there are things that are positive now that make it attractive for OEM brands around the world to say, ‘Wow, how about NASCAR? That’s interesting for us.’ And 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. Will it come to fruition? I don’t know, but I feel good about it.”

Yet Dale Earnhardt Jr. is carefully dissecting the incoming OEM which will rival Chevrolet, Toyota, and Ford. Who knows, maybe the newcomer will adjust to a better deal with NASCAR.