Doug Yates calls for NASCAR horsepower increase

When it comes to the debates over the Cup Series car, NASCAR fans are always talking about putting more horsepower in the cars. Doug Yates, Rough Yates Engines CEO, has thoughts on the debate.

The folks at Roush Yates Engines know a thing or two about horsepower. Those engines are consistently some of the best on superspeedways when it comes to speed and fuel mileage.

Talking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Doug Yates was asked about the horsepower question. He knows that it isn’t as simple as going back to 900 HP engines, but there are things that can be done.

“As an engine builder, of course, more power’s better for us. But as a sport, we’ve gotta be careful,” Yates explained. “There was a time when we had specifically qualifying engines only, and we’d go out and run a couple laps, we’d put a practice engine in, and we would have a fresh race engine in for Sunday morning. Back then, engine programs were $4.5M per car; that was quite a while ago.”

So, what can be done with the horsepower? Is there a path forward?

NASCAR can increase horsepower, but only so much

Ever since 2020, cost-cutting has been the name of the game. NASCAR horsepower has taken a hit as a result. When teams had 900+ HP engines, they were burning through them.

Doug Yates explained the difference, but wants more to be done. There is a path to more power that doesn’t include jacking the cost up for teams.

“If we were to increase the horsepower from 670 horsepower to about 750 horsepower, that probably wouldn’t be much of a change for us, today. But to go back to those 900 horsepower engines, that would be quite the project, and it would definitely decrease the life of the engine.

“So, you know, John Probst and his team, they have a tough job because we want to continue to make the racing better, specifically the short track racing, and they want to be open-minded about those things but the balance is being open-minded and not driving the costs back where it was before. Not an easy job, but I would like to see them be open-minded and try some things. And it’d be nice to see what that looks like, especially on the short tracks.”

So, what is next? NASCAR has to increase horsepower at some point. We have tried aero changes, removed the splitter, made softer tires – eventually, someone has to face facts.