With the world of motorsports growing faster than ever, many new manufacturers and teams have begun showing interest in diversifying their racing portfolio. While the Andretti-General Motors F1 bid has certainly turned heads in open-wheel racing, the sport’s most dominant engine manufacturer in recent memory, Honda, has also been in talks with NASCAR to enter the world of American Motorsport.

NASCAR could gain the upper hand with the motorsport community if Honda finally joins the sport as a fourth original equipment manufacturer. While the years of negotiations to this point have not borne fruit, it could all change after a NASCAR executive hinted at the conversation picking pace.

Is Honda’s NASCAR arrival imminent?

According to NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell, the negotiations and talks to welcome a new original equipment manufacturer into the Cup Series are “heating up.” The Daytona 500 will be a vital event for the sport’s executives owing to the number of prospective stakeholders from manufacturers that will be in attendance, including those from Honda.

For over ten years now, NASCAR has been hunting for its fourth manufacturer. While the obvious choice has always been Honda, the negotiations are yet to reach any conclusive agreement. But considering the fact that the Japanese manufacturer is spending a good amount on its US market research, the near future very well could see Honda enter the Cup Series.

The manager of Honda and Acura Motorsports, Chuck Schifsky, was quoted by SBJ, “As part of our role managing American Honda’s motorsports programs, we need to investigate all forms of motorsport here in the U.S., and as a part of that process, educate ourselves on what race fans are looking for. With that said, we have nothing new to report in terms of our future motorsport direction.”

While Honda has not revealed any details about their immediate future, the fact that both sides are eager to explore prospects could only mean positive developments for the near future. Only recently, NASCAR also visited Toyota in Japan to understand more about hydrogen power and has also been working on an EV concept that was supposed to be revealed at the Busch Light Clash.

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Despite the unfortunate delay in the EV reveal, the executives are confident that NASCAR can bring in a fourth original equipment manufacturer soon, with or without Honda in the picture.

“At the end of the day, being in NASCAR sells cars” – Steve O’Donnell believes the hunt will soon be over

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Since the departure of Dodge in 2012, no other manufacturer seems to have come as close to becoming a fourth engine manufacturer. But with Honda’s interest and other developments within NASCAR, the time is perfect for OEMs to put a foot forward and enter the world of NASCAR to mutually benefit from the close proximity racing against their direct competitors.

O’Donnell was quoted by SBJ, “The great thing is you talk about our current partners, they’ve been tremendous not only with current technology in the car but being very open to new technology whether it be a different engine architecture or what we race, so those discussions are always forward-thinking”

While many have speculated the involvement of a new manufacturer could also create problems for the existing manufacturers, O’Donnell believes this will not be the case for NASCAR.

He concluded, “Our current partners are very open to new OEMs coming in and open to having conversations about that possibility. They know that at the end of the day, being in NASCAR sells cars. It’s a proven thing and it’s a place OEMs want to be and should be.”

So with NASCAR truly pulling out all the stops this year to promote the series and bring in big names, will Honda finally make its way onto the Cup Series lineup?

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