Since 2023, the NASCAR Cup Series garage has echoed with a loud demand. Drivers and team owners pressured the sanctioning body to raise the dwindling horsepower of Cup cars. Fraternity, including fans, craved one element to distinguish drivers in a high-parity racing field. However, this year, Goodyear’s tires replaced horsepower as that element, as NASCAR got down to work to replicate the thrilling Bristol race.

Austin Dillon made the most of NASCAR’s tire strategy experiment at Richmond Raceway. But, as his controversial finish is occupying racing fans’ minds, the tire story has taken a backseat again. Keeping the topic alive, Jeff Gordon has again popped up the question of horsepower via his driver’s possession.

Jeff Gordon revives the old chapter

The current limit in NASCAR Cup Series cars is 670 horsepower. It used to be 900-1000 hp during the sport’s golden era when legends like Dale Earnhardt or Terry Labonte burned rubber on the racetracks. However, race teams have been clamoring for some years to raise the power again. Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch emphasized the flexibility of high-powered cars. “We need these things to be faster going into the corner; utilizing the brakes more; utilizing the tires more and having the opportunity to overdrive the cars more.”

However, after the 2024 Bristol race, tire management replaced horsepower in NASCAR fans’ minds. But after Austin Dillon’s wreck-fest in Richmond, Hendrick Motorsports‘ vice chairman and 4-time Cup champion revived the old topic. In a fun activity, he was asked to guess who wrote a tweet. He unequivocally guessed the name right – Alex Bowman.

Jeff Gordon did not blink an eyelid and said: “I know this is Bowman, a 100%. He is a car guy.” But the tweet also revealed Bowman’s value given to high hp. “Well today I bought a station wagon with more horse power than a Cup car…any guesses what it is?” Although we cannot guess which model Bowman owns, it does remind us of an ancient time when such a car was used in NASCAR. In 1956, Charlotte Fairgrounds, a 0.500-mile dirt track in North Carolina, employed a Ford station wagon as its pace car. Wonder what horsepower cars would produce back then!

Alex Bowman is not the only driver under Jeff Gordon who advocates more horsepower. Chase Elliott, hailing from a family of engineers, had explained the importance. “In the grand scheme of what the races might look like, any time you introduce off-throttle time is a good thing. I know from what little knowledge I have on engines is the way that we run these engines with a tapered spacer is we are making them about as inefficient as we could possibly make them.”

In his younger days, Jeff Gordon thrived on high-powered race engines to soar to victory several times.

Gordon’s glory days were powerful

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When Rick Hendrick noticed in a Nationwide Series race in Atlanta in 1992, he knew there was something different in him. Jeff Gordon was coming off of the corners with the back end of his car sliding almost out of control. With his fearless style, Gordon went on to grab 93 race trophies and four Sprint Cup championships. His real magic began in 1995 when Gordon won seven races and his first title. In ’97, Gordon won 10 more races and a second title. He followed that with 13 wins and another title in 1998.

Ray Evernham, former crew chief for Jeff Gordon, admitted that the driver used the high-powered race cars optimally. “Having Jeff Gordon driving and Randy Dorton motors made me a superstar,” Evernham told ESPN, adding Hendrick Motorports’ late engine builder to the equation. “God almighty. We had the best horsepower, I had the best drier. I felt like all I had to do was not screw up.” Evernham soon left to form his own team with Dodge – if he had not, Jeff would have made his jaws drop even more.

With Alex Bowman’s newfound auto interest, Jeff Gordon is likely to take a trip down memory lane. Increasing horsepower may not be on NASCAR’s bucket list at present, but who knows?