“I would say, like any other change that we are considering to the cars, we listen to the fans a lot,” said John Probst, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. The fans and drivers are finally getting what they wanted after three years, as NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell dropped the bomb on Dale Jr.’s podcast and assured the fans that the normal 670hp will be bumped up to 750. However, in recent revelations made by 2021 NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson, he warns folks to water down the hype…

Speaking to Frontstretch, Larson put his foot down, giving fans a reality check on the horsepower situation: “So, I would encourage you all and fans to, like, not over-promote it like it’s fix everything, you know, and so I would, yeah, encourage everybody to kind of temper their expectations, like it’s not way different. I did a test recently… and nobody told me that I had higher horsepower, and I never really realized it, so yeah, so I wouldn’t say it’s going to feel different or look. I think it’ll be better, but I don’t think it’ll be it’s not fixed.”

Kyle Larson is the most recent participant in the test at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina. NASCAR introduced a slight increase in horsepower for short tracks and road courses. Interestingly, Larson wasn’t informed about the power boost beforehand and only realized it after the test. However, the No. 5 driver didn’t feel the difference, but he acknowledges that the adjustment is a step in the right direction, even though it is not a drastic overhaul.

Reflecting on the testing, the Hendrick Motorsports driver  added, “Yeah, I think I did the test on like Tuesday, and we were flying to wherever race that weekend New Hampshire on a Friday or Saturday, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, what’d you think of the higher horsepower?’ I’m like, ‘We had higher horsepower?’ So, yeah.”

However, not all tracks will see more horsepower under their hood. The 750 HP is only reserved for certain road courses and oval tracks less than 1.5 miles. Five of the first eight races of the 2026 series are scheduled to use the new 750 hp package, and it’ll provide an early test for its performance and a glimpse at expanding on larger ovals.

However, Larson’s teammate, Chase Elliott, called it a “good effort” and said that he just wants to see what direction it takes the car. However, right now,  the 2026 horsepower issues are the least of the worries for Hendrick Motorsports, which sees its three drivers in the playoffs. But Larson believes that winning Las Vegas isn’t everything…

Kyle Larson shuts down claims about a Las Vegas win being “everything”

As Larson gears up for Sunday’s South Point 400 from P6 after a decent qualifying effort, Larson is above the play of the cutline with +4 points to his name. Now, like any playoff contender, one may want to secure a win in the earliest rounds for the Championship 4, however, Larson believes that Las Vegas is not the only race that guarantees this qualification.

Despite Larson securing his first win for Hendrick Motorsports at this track in March 2021 and being dominant in the 2024 Pennzoil 400, Larson is sounding off on the pressure and hype to win the first round. He said, “I think it’s definitely a benefit. I think other drivers I’ve heard say it’s like, everything. I don’t think it’s everything to win this first one, but it is nice to kind of look ahead a little bit. You know, I feel like in the playoffs, you don’t really ever get a chance to look ahead past the week in front of you. So if you win this first race, to take a little bit of focus off of the next couple and start digging through qualifying and practice and stuff like that at Phoenix is important. But again, it’s not everything.”

In total, Larson has now won three times at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, tying him with Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Even though Hamlin is the one who walked away with pole position, anything can happen in the race. In fact, no pole sitter in Las Vegas has ever won the race, with the only exception being Kyle Busch in 2009. Larson has ample experience on this track, and even though that is not everything to win, he will push for himself.