The move to 750 horsepower for tracks under 1.5 miles creates big expectations for the future of NASCAR. However, while Cup Series drivers applaud this step in the right direction, they caution against hoping this is a cure to every problem.
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"I hope you (media) guys don't promote the s*** out of it like it's going to fix everything, because it's not way different," Kyle Larson said, according to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic.
The 2021 Cup Series champion added that this is a step in the right direciton for the sport. He just wants to temper expectations as fans hope that more horsepower makes for better racing on short tracks and at road courses.
Three-time champion Joey Logano echoed this sentiment while saying that this is "directionally correct." However, Logano continued and pointed to some other factors that could play a significant role in next season's races once teams bring more horsepower to the track.
"I think the biggest thing that I've seen here recently in the last six months is what Goodyear is doing," Logano said. "Goodyear is bringing a tire that falls off and we're seeing that at a lot of different racetracks now.
"The horsepower will make the fall off a little bit faster. It will happen quicker. There will be more fall off with more horsepower, so it's directionally kind of going that way, but what Goodyear is doing is the biggest part of the equation, in my opinion."
Goodyear has delivered much better falloff this season at a variety of tracks. This includes Bristol Motor Speedway during the playoffs and at multiple intermediate tracks.
Tires even mattered more than normal during last weekend's elimination race at the Charlotte Roval. The perfect example of this is Ross Chastain fading in the closing laps and losing too many spots to drivers on fresher tires. This played a major role in his elimination from the playoffs.
Obviously, drivers would like to have close to 1,000 horsepower in the Cup Series cars. This would better showcase their skills behind the wheel and their tire-saving abilities.
This will not happen due to the extra costs involved, as NASCAR President Steve O'Donnell explained last week. But the drivers can at least celebrate that the sport is moving in a better direction.
"If we continue down the road of the tires wearing out, a little bit more horsepower, I think all of that stuff is directional," Josh Berry said.
"If we keep having the tire fall off and stuff like we've been seeing from time to time, then we probably aren't gonna need 1000 horsepower to make better racing."
