When Denny Hamlin said that NASCAR could easily increase the horsepower of the Next-Gen car from 670 hp to 750 hp without any additional cost, it was almost certain that several drivers would stand by his words as everyone wants higher horsepower. One of the first drivers that did so was Kyle Larson, whose comments on a recent episode of The Dale Jr Download podcast have sent fans on Reddit into a frenzy.

The Next-Gen’s draggy nature has divided the fanbase over short-track racing, forcing NASCAR’s hand to come up with a new aero package. However, without more horsepower, there’s not a lot of difference for viewers who watched the Phoenix race last weekend. Even the drivers said that there was a lot of work still to be done as the car only felt slightly different to drive.

Kyle Larson was disappointed with NASCAR not even testing higher horsepower

While Denny Hamlin advocated for an increase to 750 hp without any additional cost, Kyle Larson believes that it can be jacked up to 1000hp. The Hendrick Motorsports star did not hide his disappointment with NASCAR not testing higher horsepower packages on short tracks. “I hope someday in my career that they can at least try it. Just take us to Richmond and go test, go to Martinsville, go test, try it out,” he said.

The former Cup Series driver also stated that the mechanics at Hendrick Motorsports, including the director of track support Scotty Maxim, believe that they could get the engine turned up to 1000hp for the next weekend without paying any additional costs. Maxim is an important part of the HMS team and one of his duties includes fine-tuning the race car’s engines for a race, so he knows what he’s talking about.

“All these engine builders and teams are saying that it’s not going to cost any different. I’ve heard our…Scotty Maxim say the same thing. Like dude we could bring 1000hp next week and it would not cost more. They’re literally taking the engine that I won with in Vegas and making it a 1000-hp engine to put in one of Rick’s personal cars that they’re building right now,” Larson added.

The former Cup Series champion’s words resonated with a lot of race fans on Reddit and we all know how vocal they can be about issues like these. Some of them found the Rick Hendrick bit hilarious as well.

Race fans slam NASCAR’s lethargy to get something everyone’s calling for

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One Reddit user echoed Kyle Larson’s desperate plea to NASCAR to at least test out engines with higher horsepower at short tracks and, if the data is good enough, implement them in the races. One place where that could be tried is the All-Star exhibition race. “More power at the all star race as someone suggested. At the very least try it out there,” the wrote. Another user replied to that comment with, “That is the most logical thing.”

Another fan believes that NASCAR won’t budge unless the heavyweights of stock car racing like Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske, and Richard Childress start pressuring them into making the necessary changes. “Larson says a Hendrick engine guy says that. Won’t have much real pressure until we hear it from Hendrick, Penske, or Childress themselves,” they commented.

NASCAR has been giving various reasons for not increasing horsepower, but they are all seemingly being debunked by disgruntled drivers. And now, some fans have gotten involved as well. “At least we now know that it’s NASCAR holding back the HP. If the drivers, engine builders, Doug Yates, and David Wilson say it can be done, then it can be done. No more excuses,” one user quipped.

Some users were amused by the Rick Hendrick admission. The fact was he was taking out his own race car’s engine, tuning it up to 1000hp just for his own personal car was wild. “Larson also said his engine from Vegas is being made into a 1000hp engine that’s gonna be put into one of Rick Hendrick’s personal cars that he’s having built lmao,” one fan wrote. One of the replies to that comment read, “Taking race on sunday, buy on monday to the next level…lol.”

Clearly, the new short-track package has done nothing to cool the horsepower debate. If anything, it has added more fuel to the fire since now fans and drivers know exactly where the main problem lies. Will NASCAR cave to their demands anytime soon? Let us know your thoughts.

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