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IndyCar, Indy Car, IRL, USA The 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 May 25, 2025 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Roger Penske watches from the pagoda during the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indianapolis Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indiana USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMarcxLebrykx 20250525_lbm_lb1_301
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IndyCar, Indy Car, IRL, USA The 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 May 25, 2025 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Roger Penske watches from the pagoda during the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indianapolis Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indiana USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMarcxLebrykx 20250525_lbm_lb1_301
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to be thrilling. Alongside a new championship format, drivers can enjoy a bump in horsepower. This has been the culmination of years of protests, with racers demanding more maneuverability with their right foot rather than relying on fuel-saving strategies and pit cycles. However, NASCAR’s response to these demands has not been comprehensive, as Roger Penske’s star pointed out.
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Roger Penske’s star waters down the hype
“With Bowman Gray, I don’t know if there’s going to be a huge difference compared to what we saw last year. But I feel like the step up in horsepower, you know, I’ve yet to drive the car with it. But a lot of the feedback I’ve had from other drivers that have, and just kind of things that I’ve seen and experiences I’ve had in the simulator, it’s not a huge shift,” Austin Cindric said on The Backstretch Podcast.
Last October, NASCAR rolled out an announcement that was music to fans’ ears. It has increased the cars’ horsepower from the current 650-670 HP package to 750 HP. This applies to all road courses and tracks less than 1.5 miles long. But many have been suspicious about how this will affect the Next-Gen car. Doubts have sprung up, similar to Austin Cindric’s misgivings, about whether any impact will be felt at all.
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March 22, 2025, Homestead, Fl, USA: AUSTIN CINDRIC 2 of Mooresville, NC gets ready to qualify for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 in Homestead, FL.
Austin Cindric’s strong point has been superspeedways, as Roger Penske‘s driver clinched his last victory at Talladega last year. However, he also displayed prowess at short tracks in 2025. Cindric finished fifth in Richmond with an average running position of eighth and also had the fourth-highest driver rating at the Virginia short track (106.5). So, his concerns about the horsepower hype have a personal touch as well.
“When we change tires, you know, that kind of jumbles things up. And when we jumble things up, that usually makes racing somewhat exciting or interesting, you know, and then it’s okay, everybody starts to learn and figure it out. And that’s when people, you know, it gets harder to understand what’s all going into it,” Austin Cindric said. “I’m not going to like jump to any conclusions that we’ve changed a whole lot here, other than we’ve just changed something.”
While Roger Penske’s driver harbors doubts, his Cup Series rival is hopeful.
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Drivers can feel the change
The horsepower bump is a new phenomenon, with a lot of unknowns floating around. However, some drivers got a taste of the 750 hp package at a multi-team test two weeks ago at North Wilkesboro Speedway. One of them was Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones. Unlike Roger Penske’s driver’s opinion, Jones admitted to a discernible change while handling the new package.
“It’s noticeable, I would say, on the bottom end a lot, but it does feel like you’re going a little faster down straight away too,” Jones said. “It feels like it’s just pulling better through the whole power band.”
Jimmie Johnson’s driver also observed how it complements Goodyear’s recent short track tire changes. The tire company had worked hard to bring out tires with greater fall-off in 2024 and 2025. And the new horsepower can finally help achieve that goal. “I hope it helps out. I think we’ve done a lot of work with the tires and trying to get fall off, but I don’t think we had enough power to kind of supplement that tire and how much it wanted to fall off. So I think it’s gonna help with that.”
Clearly, there is a division in stances regarding NASCAR’s bumped horsepower. We can find out in earnest once the season starts, so let’s wait and see.