Those who have watched the NextGen car on short tracks and road courses understand that the results have not been great. The new car has turned some of NASCAR’s best tracks into boring showings with select events featuring limited passing. This is something that NASCAR has realized and work is going into figuring out how to fix the problem.
In fact, NASCAR chief operating officer Steve O’Donnell discussed this subject during the annual “State of the Sport” address at Phoenix Raceway last week. It was a positive update as O’Donnell was asked whether increased horsepower is a possible solution.
“I think everything is up for consideration,” O’Donnell said. “We’ve proven that. You have to factor in what are the costs involved as well, right? It’s not as simple as just upping the horsepower. You better be ready for all your OEs to be onboard. It better make sense for any potential new OEM and technology. It’s not just a short-term answer.”
"Let's go race for a championship."
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“For us, we’re going to look at shifting specifically around that at our next test and see what we can do. There will be variations. Also some aero things we do with the underbody. There’s some things we found in Richmond from an aero standpoint that could work as well. Nothing to report in terms of yes we’re going to do that. Open to everything, but I would say short-term more around shifting and the aero package.”
NASCAR would be better off raising the horsepower on short tracks and road courses if the other methods don’t work. For now, the sport will look at shifting and aerodynamic changes at the next test as fixing this remains a priority. If NASCAR is able to make successful changes, it will change the overall success of the sport as well.
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