NASCAR has wanted to bring a fourth manufacturer to the Cup Series alongside Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota; however, nothing has come to fruition yet. Dodge was mentioned over the last few years, but those talks broke down. Now, Honda has emerged as a possibility as rumors suggest that news could be coming in the future.
The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi discussed the possibility of Honda joining NASCAR on his podcast, The Teardown. Bianchi gave a big update regarding a potential timeline and whether anything has started with NASCAR yet.
“These are not the things that you just announced, like, ‘Hey, we’re coming back next year,’ Bianchi said. “You’ve got to submit all of the stuff to NASCAR, and NASCAR has to approve it, then you’ve got to do testing and all of this stuff. This is a process, and that process hasn’t even started yet, to my knowledge, unless NASCAR has kept it under wraps, which I don’t think they have. So, yeah, at some point, they may. It ain’t gonna be for 2025, though.”
Honda’s reasonable entry date could be the 2026 NASCAR season, as the process could start in 2024 and take the entirety of next year. The Cup Series doesn’t desperately need a fourth manufacturer, but it would certainly be great for the sport. NASCAR is working on getting Honda on board, but don’t expect an arrival until after the 2025 season.
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