Denny Hamlin passionately implores NASCAR to increase horsepower

It’s year four of the Next Gen car, and passing remains difficult in the NASCAR Cup Series; look no further than this past Sunday’s race at Darlington. Denny Hamlin is calling on NASCAR to allow an increase in horsepower, which he believes could help the issue.

“You’re coming off a couple of races of domination and what I hear on my end is — the racing and how are we going to make it better,” Hamlin said Wednesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut. “No matter what we do, 20 years ago, we’re going to be talking about how to make the racing better. What we have to understand is that the parity is what is making it so hard to pass. It’s making it so hard to get near each other to crash which is what some fans are there to see, which is more action. It’s a tough problem. And the fans I talk to see say they want more horsepower, and I wish it was that easy.

“It is, technically, but it also isn’t right. Could we at least go back to the 750 horsepower, which is only 100 more than what we got now, which would at least be a step in the right direction to make it where… these cars are just so planted. I can’t tell you enough how much that’s the case, that they’re stuck to the racetrack. We have to unstick them somehow. Is it more horsepower, more tire fall off because I know we’re working towards that and Goodyear and NASCAR has made good progress there but it’s more about the competition side than anything. Late last year, it was the officiating, and it just goes in cycles where and what the focus is on.”

This is hardly the first time Hamlin has called for more horsepower in the racecars. As far back as 2015, NASCAR has incrementally decreased the horsepower of engines capable of producing over 900. Except for high-banked drafting tracks, NASCAR caps engines at 650 horsepower.  

Hamlin said that nothing is stopping NASCAR from increasing horsepower. He claimed that engine bills are the same now as they were when horsepower was higher.

Denny Hamlin explains why NASCAR should increase horsepower

“The only thing I can do is tell you that when we had 900 horsepower, then 750 and now 650, the engine bills are the same,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know if the manufacturers are eating that cost. Don’t think so. I think they’ve been passing it along to the teams this whole time. The issue seems to be red tape, obviously.”

There has been speculation of other manufacturers joining the sport alongside Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota. Even if a new manufacturer comes in and can’t produce horsepower exceeding 650, that shouldn’t stop NASCAR from at least trying for more in the meantime, Hamlin said.

“We’ve heard NASCAR say another manufacturer is close, they’re close. And until that happens, why not give the people what they want and if a new one comes in and says ‘I can’t produce that, I need to produce lower’ then we can taper it back to 650,” Hamlin said. “Until then, I don’t see a reason in sacrificing a) what the people want and b) what the drivers want and that will help the fan sentiment because they feed off whatever the drivers say so it’s an easier fix than it’s made out to be.

“Yes, the engine manufacturers will have to tweak a few things. But those, such as Doug Yates, say going back to 750 isn’t a big deal for us. He said they swap out the spacer, make some adjustments, and go race. We’ve still been racing two races on these engines for quite some time. I don’t see a reason to not go back to the 750 and try it. Please let’s go back to the 750. Let’s just try and see if it puts it back in the drivers’ hands.”