The short track swing in the NASCAR schedule wasn’t great. Kevin Harvick even dipped back into the horsepower debate after the Bristol race. Then again, if you have tires that wear down, like they did last month at Bristol, horsepower isn’t even a topic.
After races at Richmond and Martinsville, NASCAR fans started to bang on that drum once again. Horsepower. Horsepower. More horsepower! It’s been aero this and aero that. Well, that might not be enough anymore.
Kevin Harvick just wants more horsepower to be tested. Don’t bring it to a race next week. But at the net test, get some power into the car and just see what happens. See if it allows the drivers to do more.
He said as much on his Happy Hour podcast last month.
“I think the reality of the situation, that I’ve learned, is you’re not just going to turn the spigot on and switch over to big horsepower,” Harvick explained. “Because in the end, there’s no way that the development of the manifolds and all the things that are happening inside of the engines can’t be different in order to maximize power.
“Now, sure they’re going to spend that money on development that they would, but they’re also going to have to, if they have different horsepower for short tracks and road courses, they would need to have a different engine rotation. So, there’s more to it. There needs to be a runway to ‘How do we get there?’
“Well, the first thing we need to do is put the freaking horsepower in the car at one of these damn tests and let’s see if it’s better. Okay? We’ve got three different engine builders, build an engine. Please build me an engine and just tell me if it’s better, if it’s not I will shut up. Okay? And if it is better let’s give the engine departments to get there next year so we can have more horsepower. If not, then let’s be done with it.
“So, there’s way more to it than just turning the spigot on and saying ‘Hey, we want more horsepower.’ And I think you have to be fair to the engine shops and give them a path to get there and understand what the rotation would be, what the development would be, all the things that come with changing it. But why can’t we test it?”
Kevin Harvick has been outspoken about this car. Even as a driver for the last two years, he was critical of it. Now from the booth, he can speak out even more. Harvick makes a great point. NASCAR has to make a decision. It is either more horsepower or more tire falloff.
Short of those two things, short track and road course racing will be a poor product. NASCAR can’t afford to have dud races at their bread and butter. Short track racing is exciting. Road course racing is fun. Not with this Next Gen car, though. There are solutions, but NASCAR has to try.
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