Fans Brutally Trash NASCAR’s Unwelcome Tactics to Lure 4th Manufacturer With Major Downgrade

The rumors are rife. NASCAR might welcome a new manufacturer sooner than one would imagine. For months, rumors have swirled that Honda could become the fourth brand to add its name to the sport, alongside the big three of Chevy, Ford, and Toyota. But there is a major problem.

Honda does not make V8 engines for any of its street-legal vehicles. The only exception is the BF350, a powerful proprietary VTEC motor that produces a peak power of 6000 rpm. But that’s only being equipped on big boats for now. 

NASCAR introduced the Next-Gen vehicle to close the gap between the cars fans see on the track–the Camry, Mustang, and Camaro–and the ones in their local showrooms. Reasons like that make the path even more troublesome for a potential new manufacturer like Honda to join the sport. But it seems like NASCAR’s leaving no stone unturned to accommodate the latest member of their OEM family. And their experiments signal a significant shift away from the very fabric of the sport. Naturally, the fans aren’t happy.

Tradition might pay the price of progress in NASCAR

From John Probst, Chief Racing Development Officer, to NASCAR President Steve Phelps, the consensus seems unified at the sport’s decision-making levels. As Phelps told Autoweek a few months ago, “I know for a fact we will not have a new OEM unless we change our engine.” The Gen-7 engines come with some strict specifications. Barring the entire single-source supplier gimmick, the engines must not exceed 358 cubic inches of displacement and are required to have a compression ratio of 12:1. They must feature eight cylinders only, naturally aspirated, and follow a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout.

Horsepower varies depending on the track. For courses that measure 2 miles or below, the engines deliver a maximum power output of 670 hp (500 kW). Conversely, superspeedway-package tracks like Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta dial down the power further to 510 hp (380 kW) using tapered spacers. Regardless of the racetrack, there’s a cap at 720 Newton meters for torque output. The three designated OEMs in NASCAR build all the engines within the parameters, which must then receive approval from the sport’s governing body before they go under the hood of a race car.

In most ways, the Next-Gen machine is the closest NASCAR has come to developing a true spec car similar to the Sports cars we see in the IMSA series. The days of pure stock-car racing, with the undertones of ‘Win-on-Sunday, Sell-on-Monday’ are now a distant reality. Certainly, the new regulations uphold NASCAR’s goals of fostering greater parity, enhancing cost-efficiency, and ensuring manufacturers remain as relevant as ever. Besides, there should be no complaint against NASCAR’s existing car-builders. They’ve worked within the constraints and nearly perfected their respective formulas. However, the prospect of a new manufacturer tailoring its V8 program to meet NASCAR’s stringent regulations feels far-fetched.

Yet, in a recent State of the Sport address, Phelps confirmed that “Right now we’re in discussion with several OEs about coming in,” although he later questions if NASCAR’s style of racing would be “the right fit for their brand.” But it appears NASCAR is looking at all tweaks and adjustments they can implement to make sure their road to having a fourth manufacturer remains obstacle-free. A recent post from a NASCAR rumor page on Instagram, @nascarrumornostalgia, suggests, “NASCAR could be looking into bringing torque sensors to the Cup cars. The reason? That way a Cup car could have the current V8 or say a turbo V6 and ensure they remain as identical as possible at speed. Maybe this could be what finally brings new manufacturers into the sport that NASCAR have been looking at.”

There have been talks of this before, but what a torque sensor essentially does is ensure Balance of Performance (BoP). They latch onto a car’s axle shaft to monitor its torque output and are becoming increasingly popular in other racing series that allow different engine platforms. IMSA mechanic, and social media personality, Bozi Tatarevic explained it best on Twitter: “Employing torque sensors in NASCAR can offer a variety of uses from the ability to collect data on current engines from each OEM all the way to being able to employ it to equalize new engines in the future that may not all be built to the same exact spec.”

For example, if Honda or some other OEM that wishes to enter the sport does so with, let’s say, a twin-turbo V6, the torque sensor will ensure it produces the same parameters of power per stint compared to the naturally aspirated pushrod V8 engine currently used by NASCAR. But make no mistake, this is only a precursor of what is next to come. Top officials at NASCAR have talked about hybridizing the present power plant multiple times before. British manufacturer giant McLaren is already the electronic parts supplier of the Cup Series. And it’s unclear if their partnership will transition onwards to a bigger responsibility in the sport someday.

But the times are changing. Hence, it is only natural to believe NASCAR will evolve according to what’s relevant. Now, will the purists be one with the advancements? The reactions to the rumors of torque sensors entering the sport have certainly caused quite a stir.

V6 engines in Cup cars? Fans cry foul

Earlier this year, NASCAR experimented with a torque sensor on the #19 car of Martin Truex Jr at the first Richmond race. NASCAR made it clear at the time: the test run was strictly about gathering more data on the racetrack, not paving the way for a new manufacturer to join the sport with anything other than a V8 engine. But with each passing day, it seems like NASCAR is doing everything possible to bring in a fourth manufacturer into the sport.

However, longtime fans are not seeing eye-to-eye with the fact that stock car racing is straying away from its all-American V8 roots. The Oldsmobile Rocket V8 was the first of its kind to make appearances on the NASCAR circuit back in the day, but those were true stock car racing engines, in the truest sense of the word. Adopting a new powertrain/a new platform will take the sport away from its traditions, and the discontent was evident in the comments on the post by @nascarrumornostalgia.

One fan wrote, “This is unfortunate. One of the greatest and unique motorsports of all time is continuously shooting themselves in the foot. Sad,” while another did not wish to be so nice. In their own words, they believed this was “yet another nail in CRA-PCAR’s coffin!!!” Concurring with those emotions, a member of the NASCAR community elaborated on those sentiments even more incensed. “Let’s continue to get further and further away,” they lamented. “What is the NASCAR cup series these days outside of a segregated IMSA series.. Only the trucks and Xfinity have their own identity. I’m sure they’re not far down the list to get absolutely f–-ked up too.”

Others noticed the obvious foreshadowing. “This is a way to bring Honda into the sport,” wrote that demographic, making sense of all the ruckus. However, one fan made a noteworthy observation: “With all the talk of “bringing cost down” you don’t want to know how much a set of these cost.” The torque sensors can certainly even out some of the larger costs, if we’re talking about the potential 4th manufacturer building a brand-new V8 platform to cater to NASCAR needs. Senior IMSA officials have discussed the high costs of the equalizing component before, which might not be too economical in the grander scheme of things. 

Nevertheless, one well-informed NASCAR fan replied, “All these people forget the Busch Series ran V6’s during the prime time of NASCAR.” Indeed, the NASCAR Xfinity Series (known as the Busch Series back then) was running V6 engines since its inception but stopped somewhere around the mid-90s to evolve with the times. Fortunately, change like that is inevitable in NASCAR. And just like the carburetors before the V8s, someday a compromise will arrive that won’t fall too well for the sport’s staunchest traditionalists. But should we stay prepared? After all, even the Dodge brand has found itself in NASCAR return rumors multiple times over the years. And they’ve still got their V8 engine knocking about, for all those people hoping for a welcome change.