NASCAR fans and drivers have regularly called for increased horsepower in the Cup Series cars. Now, a NASCAR executive has acknowledged that these conversations are taking place daily.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR SVP of Competition, appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Tuesday and confirmed that these conversations are taking place. This doesn't mean that the playoff race at Martinsville Speedway will suddenly feature more powerful Cup cars, but his comments show that NASCAR is willing to at least entertain the topic.
"It's on the table," Sawyer said on Tuesday morning. "We are working closely with all the stakeholders in the industry, and as I said, the collaboration has been better than ever in our sport on all topics."
Sawyer continued, saying that the topic of Cup horsepower came up at a team owners' council meeting last week. He also noted that Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst had a conversation with engine builders to see what changes could be made in this modern era with its engine seal rules and regulations.
"It's a tall mountain to climb, but we're willing to do that to give our race fans the best product," he said. "Again, behind the scenes, there are a lot of conversations going on. How can we do that? Where do we do that? Is it across the board?
"Obviously, that's not gonna be superspeedways. It's just a lot to digest. But what I will say is it's on the forefront. It is on the table and something that we're discussing daily."
Fixing the short track racing has been a topic since the start of the Gen 7 era. While the new cars delivered improved racing on intermediate tracks, they struggled on road courses. Track position became a premium as drivers struggled to pass much slower cars at Richmond, Bristol, North Wilkesboro, and Martinsville.
NASCAR tried making changes to the aero package, but they did not deliver lasting results. Goodyear and NASCAR worked together to create improved falloff, which paid dividends at times. Martinsville races improved, as did those at the repaved North Wilkesboro.
However, Bristol remained a problem. The track saw too much tire falloff in last season's spring race due to unexpected wear, but the playoff race and this season's spring race both had limited tire wear. Kyle Larson dominated both events while leading a combined 873 laps.
Sawyer appeared on SiriusXM after this season's spring race and said that NASCAR is open to ideas regarding its short track racing. He said the sanctioning body would not sleep on this issue and that it would work with team owners, drivers, and Goodyear moving forward.
Based on his comments this week, these conversations are happening daily as NASCAR tries to deliver exciting racing at all of its tracks.
"I know there's stuff in the background that we're constantly working on, and as we said many times, we want to continue to work, put our best foot forward on our short track racing," Sawyer said. "And we're doing that.
"Good collaboration with our team owners and drivers on what that may look like with Goodyear and tires and even our engine builders and what that may look like going forward with power. We've said many, many times that really nothing's off the table. It's just the timing of when certain things become more available, more prevalent, that we can potentially roll out to the industry."