Chevrolet & Co’s Failed Attempts to Enter F1 Exposes NASCAR’s Stubbornness Against Horsepower Buff

We’ve all heard the saying that NASCAR is well past its prime years. There was an era when the premier stock car racing series was a hub for companies and businesses to feature themselves on the big stages. A whole bunch of Fortune 500 companies lined up to sponsor NASCAR race cars, but that isn’t the case anymore. In fact, the sport has also lost a bunch of its OEM partners and is now running with just three.

On the other hand, Formula 1 is quickly growing out to become a popular motorsport among the young American race fans. Ever since Liberty Media Corporation has taken over the ownership, they’ve expanded to four events in the United States. Meanwhile, their Netflix documentary “Driver to Survive” has been a huge hit among the viewers. Not only fans, but the current NASCAR OEMs are also flocking to get the bite of the F1 cherry.

It’s not that NASCAR hasn’t been trying to attract new partners and manufacturers to the sport. But the appeal on the F1 side looks tempting, and that is evident with NASCAR OEMs increasing collaboration with them.

Horsepower buff isn’t enough to lure in OEM partners

General Motors sub-brand Cadillac has been in the news for their attempts to enter the F1 paddock as the 11th team with Andretti Motorsports. While the initial plea had been rejected by a unanimous decision of the current 10 team owners, there’s still a prospect of GM entering F1 alongside the Andretti family. If we are to go with the latest updates, GM can enter Formula 1 as early as 2026, and this just goes to show how appealing the F1 brand of racing is for OEMs and sponsors.

Ford, on the other hand, is eyeing a return to enter F1 racing after an absence of over two decades. They have struck a partnership with Red Bull to develop a long-term strategic partnership for the development of a next-gen hybrid power unit. This new engine unit is expected to be used from the 2026 Formula 1 season onwards. Oracle Red Bull Racing and the satellite team Scuderia Alpha Tauri will both receive this new engine unit.

Lastly, Toyota is also following in Ford’s footsteps by entering Formula 1 racing after a 15-year absence. The Japanese automaker will be partnering with the US-based Haas Team. Toyota branding will be visible on the Haas race cars starting for the race in Texas in October. However, the team will use Ferrari engines as they have an agreement that runs until 2028.

Meanwhile, NASCAR has designed a race car that promotes parity racing and has tapered the engine output on their race car. The mission statement behind launching the Next-Gen race car was to attract more manufacturers to NASCAR. However, all hope is not lost yet, as NASCAR just might be closing on a deal that will increase their OEM partner number to four.

Is Honda joining NASCAR as its new OEM partner?

2012 was the last year when NASCAR had a total of four OEMs competing for the big prize. However, with Dodge taking the exit door, only Chevrolet, Ford, and Toyota were the options for the teams to choose from. Time and again there have been rumblings of new OEMs touted to join NASCAR, and Honda is the name that has surfaced quite a lot. The rumor mills were running in overdrive, trying to link that Japanese automaker to NASCAR and predicting how long it would take them to enter.

“We’re looking for a wholesale change to the engine regulations so that we can eliminate fives and tens of millions of dollars of annual technical costs, because if we don’t, then it’s too much money, and we will go do something else. That something else could be NASCAR or a further investment in our Formula 1 effort. Or something that isn’t motorsports at all.” Honda Motorsports Manager Chuck Schifsky said this to Racer.

Although NASCAR didn’t approve of these links, they did acknowledge that they are in talks with a potential OEM partner. “Yeah, we’ve had a number of discussions. We’re in different phases depending on the OEs (manufacturers). I won’t get into exactly where those are and who they are, but we have an OE that is close… I think, in our opinion, five is probably the right number of OEs. Obviously, we’re at three right now. We are a couple of years away.” NASCAR president Steve Phelps said this ahead of the championship race in Phoenix.

Considering the footprint F1 has managed to establish with its revival project, this is something NASCAR can follow up on. They have their own Netflix series going along with an international points race next year. Not to forget, they did sign a mega $7.7 billion TV deal, but will this be enough to lure new partners? Only time will tell.