It was one moment that changed everything. In 1987, Bobby Allison’s car went airborne at Talladega after a blown tire sent it hurtling into the catch fence, ripping apart fencing, scattering debris, and nearly launching into the stands. It was a miracle that no fans were seriously hurt. But for NASCAR, it was a wake-up call. Just one year later, the restrictor plate era was born. Its purpose? Simple. Put a limit on engine horsepower. Slow the cars down before someone doesn’t walk away.

Restrictor plates did exactly that. By limiting the amount of air entering the engine, they choked horsepower down significantly, reducing top speeds and curbing the wild unpredictability that had once defined superspeedway racing. Eventually, in 2015, NASCAR transitioned to tapered spacers to ensure the racing remained safer and also closer. They were essentially a more efficient version of the restrictor plate.

That year, tapered spacers were used at all tracks, except Daytona and Talladega. They were shown to reduce the engine horsepower by about 125 horsepower. These were a more modern alternative that still limits airflow but offers a bit more engine flexibility. In 2019, NASCAR opted for a larger tapered spacer. Still, the result hasn’t changed much. Cars are manageable. Races are tighter. But some say the sport lost a bit of its edge (raw speed) along the way.

That’s the heart of what’s fueling outrage today. In a recent interview with Candice Spencer, legendary Ford engine builder Doug Yates let a little truth slip out—and it hit fans right in the gut. “These engines, before we put tapered spacers on them, made ~925 horsepower and at one point were turning these engines over 10,000 RPM,” he said.

Doug Yates has been particularly vocal about the horsepower increase, being the leading voice for change outside the drivers. While cost and safety remain major hurdles for an increased HP, at the start of May this year, Yates said, “If we were to increase the power from 670 horsepower to about 750 horsepower, that probably wouldn’t be much of a change for us today.” 

Yates believes that cost wise, this would be the ideal way to start the HP increase, and said that NASCAR is positively exploring it as well, adding, “I would like to see them [NASCAR] be open-minded and try some things and it’d be nice to see what that looked like, especially on short tracks.” Well, short track racing has certainly taken the biggest hit because of the Next-Gen car with lower HP, and no one better to tell you why than Denny Hamlin.

The Joe Gibbs Racing #11 is a seasoned veteran and co-owner of 23XI Racing, and he has been particularly vocal about this issue. He argues that the current 670-horsepower configuration hampers overtaking opportunities and diminishes the excitement of races. “The more you can get us out of the gas, which means if we have more horsepower, we have to let off sooner, that gives us the opportunity to overtake for the cars behind,” Hamlin explained. On short tracks, cars virtually go at full throttle all race, limiting opportunities for any driver to overtake. A shift to higher HP would not only challenge the most skilled drivers but also make passing more viable, and NASCAR isn’t blind to this either.

On the Hauler Talk podcast, NASCAR’s managing director of communications, Mike Forde, said, “It [Horsepower] was something we proactively brought up to have a further discussion of improving the short-track package… We are working with engine builders on that, and we’ll see if this is something that’s put into place this season.”

Well, all these discussions seem to be trending in a positive direction, but Yates’ recent comments made fans reminisce about the old days of NASCAR, where higher horsepower made the cars incredibly tricky to drive. The tapered spacers, while improving safety, have come at the cost of the horsepower that we all love, and the community was vocal about their thoughts on the tapered spacers.

Frustration and theories over NASCAR’s power limits

Now, with spec cars and capped horsepower, talent alone doesn’t shine the way it used to. The cars may still look fast. But do they feel fast anymore? That’s the question NASCAR must reckon with as fans mourn what could’ve been. The NASCAR community wasted no time voicing their opinions after Doug Yates’ revelations about the sport’s lost horsepower era. Many fans believe the shift to tapered spacers and reduced engine output has fundamentally changed the racing product and not always for the better.

One fan suggested manufacturer politics played a role: “I’m convinced they put tapered spacers on them to help Toyota. I remember before they put them spacers on em Toyota used to have engine issues frequently.” Most notably, in 2008, Toyota suffered a string of reliability problems during the playoffs. Then, in 2012, Denny Hamlin and other Toyota drivers suffered engine issues, hampering their Championship chances. In 2023, catastrophic failures for Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell derailed Toyota’s championship hopes in the playoffs. However, another fan gave an alternate perspective to the Toyota-favoritism, recalling, “Well, Toyota actually built a powerhouse engine that NASCAR made them turn down in 2008 because they were kicking everyone’s ass in the Nationwide Series. They made Toyota put on a spacer to knock 15 HP off.”

Meanwhile, others are frustrated by the mechanical limits imposed on today’s cars. “I say wick em up but leave the rest of the drivetrain alone so if you slam a downshift boom goes the trans or transaxle whatever it is,” one fan wrote, echoing the call for more power and greater driver challenge. Riding at a higher HP would put a lot of emphasis on braking and doing it at the right time, a feature that most drivers seem to have mastered at the current horsepower package with spec cars.

Currently, Cup engines are capped at 670 horsepower on most tracks and 510 at superspeedways, with a hard RPM limit of 9,000. “Yeah, they’re limited to 9000 rpm right?” another user noted, highlighting another key restriction. As per the latest developments, NASCAR is looking to increase horsepower for the rest of the 2025 season following a meeting with teams and drivers.

The overall mood was summed up by one blunt comment. “The more you think about it the more of a huge joke @nascar is for this.” Many fans, drivers, and even engine builders like Doug Yates have called for a return to higher horsepower. Though Yates notes that jumping from 670 to 750 horsepower is feasible, a return to 900+ would require a complete engine overhaul and drastically reduce engine life, and increase the costs for a new engine nearly every race.

As NASCAR hints at exploring a horsepower increase for short tracks, the debate rages on. Will the sport prioritize cost, parity, and safety, or finally give fans the raw, untamed racing they crave? Let us know what you think in the comments!