NASCAR Cup Iowa

NASCAR claims more horsepower likely not happening until 2026

While more horsepower is still being discussed, don't expect it to happen before the end of the 2025 NASCAR Cup season

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Aug 6, 2025, 6:42 PM

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Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

NASCAR has pumped the brakes on increasing horsepower before the end of the 2025 season, despite many drivers calling for it. In June, the sanctioning body indicated that an increase from 670HP to 750HP was "on the table" and could be implemented before the end of the year, but that no longer appears to be the case.

NASCAR Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer made a recent appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, saying, “It is something that is an ongoing discussion with our industry stakeholders (noting OEMs). I feel like we’re having positive conversations. There is still a lot that goes into that, obviously it’s a 2026 initiative to get that across the line, so we still continue to have very positive conversations around that.”

Sawyer went on to confirm that he does not see the change happening this year as NASCAR wants to "get all those boxes checked and making sure we do it right. We still have to make sure that that's first and foremost, that it is the right thing, which we believe it is. We've got feedback from a lot of different stakeholders, some have a stronger opinion than others. So you have to weigh all that as well."

Just a decade ago, Cup cars reached 900 horsepower, and it was gradually reduced until the highly controversial 550HP package was introduced in 2019. When the Next Gen car arrived in 2022, horsepower went back up to 670HP.

Discussions about the Next Gen car's performance have heated up in the past few days following a frustrating race at Iowa Speedway with minimal tire falloff and an inability to pass. Several top voices within the industry have utilized their platforms to voice their displeasure and present solutions ... many of which involve boosting power.

At Iowa, the pole time for the ARCA Menards Series race was 22.901s, a full tenth quicker than Chase Briscoe's pole lap of 23.004s in the Cup Series.

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