NASCAR VP Shuts Down Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin’s Claims With Ultimatum on the Horsepower Debate

The quicker the better. While Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, and Kyle Busch have been pushing for more horsepower, the NASCAR officials on the other hand, have not been entertaining the same. These drivers believe bumping the horsepower from 670 to over 1,000 would seriously up the game, making races more exciting and possibly winning back fans. Remember the days when Bristol could easily pack its stands?

Now, even a 500-lap event is drawing half the crowd. NASCAR officials are wary and believe cranking up the horsepower could be a pricey move that might not even make the races better and could scare off potential new manufacturers, like Honda, from joining the fray. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an easy fix in sight, as both parties are digging their heels in. However, things got a bit more interesting recently when NASCAR Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer dropped by Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s Dirty Mo Media podcast and laid out his stance loud and clear.

NASCAR is considering shaking things up after the Wilkesboro weekend

The NASCAR VP made his point clear on the Dale Jr. podcast and said, “We’re still at, you know, close to 700 horsepower, so you know the dialogue around we need a 1000 horsepower. You know, there’s going to be a significant cost to put a 1000 horsepower in these cars. It just is. I know there’s there’s debate back and forth, but it isn’t going to happen.”

However, Joey Logano, a two-time Cup champion, is all for it. “We want more power. It increases tire wear. It makes the track wider. And it’s more bada**,“ he said. Over on his FOX Sports podcast, even FOX analyst Kevin Harvick is pushing for even bigger numbers: “I still think it’s got to have more than 1,000 horsepower,“ he mentioned. 

Denny Hamlin was also heard speaking before a tough race in Phoenix. Hamlin said “Any horsepower I think you can add will make the racing better. It is hard to pass because we are all on the gas so much. You have to get us out of the gas whether through the tire or the horsepower.” 

Additionally, Kyle Busch somewhat echoed the same sentiment when he said, “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 to burn the tires up to see guys struggle over a run.“ And to add to the long list of drivers, Kyle Larson is also leading the call for more horsepower under the hood.

Elton Sawyer did mention futher that it’s not like they’re just sitting on their hands—not doing anything to spice up the races. Instead, they’re thinking of tweaking tire strategies to amp up the excitement. He also mentioned that they’d definitely learn a thing or two after they packed up from Wilkesboro that Sunday night, snagging some fresh data to chew on. This should help point NASCAR in a new direction—figuring out exactly what the sport needs to do next. Take Bristol, for instance; that was a solid chunk of information for them.

Then there was Richmond, where they kicked off the race on wet-weather tires. Those first 30 laps? Pure old-school Richmond—drivers were sliding around everywhere. So, Sawyer believes if NASCAR can dial in the tires just right, working closely with Goodyear, that’d be the way to go, rather than bumping up the horsepower. But what exactly would ramping up the horsepower mean for NASCAR’s costs? How would it impact NASCAR engines?

How can NASCAR crank up to 1000 hp in a week if they decide to?

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A NASCAR engine can set the team back anywhere from $60,000 to $150,000, plus another $40,000 if they are talking upgrades. These V-8 engines, whether they’re from Ford, Chevrolet, or Toyota, have to stick to some pretty tight rules—like no engines over 358 cubic inches (5.9 liters)—to keep the horsepower in check. Yet, some folks argue that boosting the horsepower could be done quickly and without busting the budget.

Kyle Larson threw in his two cents about horsepower being a draw for new manufacturers. He pointed out that in his decade in the Cup Series, not a single new OEM has joined the party. Earlier, when Larson appeared on Dale Jr.’s podcast, he also voiced his concerns about wanting more horsepower and expressed how the officials have responded to the requests. “I feel they’ve always used the excuse of, ‘we’re trying to keep the horsepower to where other manufacturers might want to come in… As long as I’ve been in the sport (10 years), it’s been the same three manufacturers. Maybe somebody else is coming and maybe they’re the ones pushing for the horsepower, but I’ve yet to see anybody new come in.”

But over time it is evident that NASCAR doesn’t want to add more HP because of the additional cost that will incur. NASCAR’s Chief Racing Development Officer, John Probst mentioned that having this addition may or may not help as there is not enough substantial evidence to prove anything but this would cost millions. Probst said, “So that’s a heck of a gamble to take with the entire industry.” Because more heat would mean more work to the exhaust system, this would further mean redoing throttle linkages and ECU calibrations to sustain higher horsepower.

On the other hand, Scotty Maxim, who’s in charge of powertrains at Hendrick, claims they could whip up 1000 horsepower by next week if NASCAR allowed. Larson mentioned, “They’re literally taking the [670-hp] engine that I won with at Vegas and making it a 1,000-hp engine to put in one of Rick [Hendrick]‘s personal cars they’re building right now.”

Considering Chevrolet has pretty much nailed the formula with their 358-cubic-inch pushrod V8s, it makes you wonder why NASCAR won’t just let the big three—Chevy, Ford, and Toyota—go for it. But that’s a question only the NASCAR bigwigs can answer.