Kevin Harvick on NASCAR’s Proposed Horsepower Increase: Drivers “Couldn’t Even Tell”

What’s Happening?

NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick says he heard that when NASCAR increased the horsepower in a NASCAR Next Gen car, “the driver couldn’t even tell,” during the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour Podcast.

Last week, a potential increase in horsepower made the rounds in the NASCAR community after NASCAR owner/driver Brad Keselowski, of RFK Racing, claimed the sport was doing so on an episode of Corey LaJoie’s podcast, Stacking Pennies.

Currently, the NASCAR Cup Series operates in the high 600s range on non-superspeedways, with the official claim upon the Next Gen Car’s introduction being 670 horsepower. Keselowski claimed the bump could be the long-rumored increase to 740 to 750 HP.

While rumors have swirled that NASCAR may increase horsepower for the upcoming season for some time, fans and industry members have questioned if this somewhat conservative boost will have a positive effect on the cars’ on-track performance.

During a sit-down with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports on his podcast, Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kevin Harvick suggests that he has heard this increase will have little effect on the car’s performance, stating that he has heard drivers could not feel a difference.

“Everything that I’ve heard, they put it [increased horsepower] in, and the driver couldn’t even tell that they changed the horsepower.” — Kevin Harvick

The 49-year-old, who has been open about his support for a hefty increase, went on to say, “It needs a ton of horsepower. It needs to be faster.”

Seeking Horsepower

Though fans have long requested an increase in horsepower with hopes it will improve the racing product of NASCAR’s Next Gen car, real discussions about this began in May when Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines, claimed an increase to 750 “wouldn’t be much of a change” for engine builders.

NASCAR has since stated that this is on the table, and on August 5, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer said, regarding an increase in horsepower, “it’s a 2026 initiative to get that across the line.”

While this is an increase, the increase some want, a return to 900 or even 1000 HP, is extremely unlikely due to the cost created by the wear and tear on engines. Interestingly enough, Harvick claims in this episode that engine bills did not go down with the decrease in horsepower that began in the late 2010s.

“When they lowered the horsepower, the price of the engines went up because the valve train it becomes so important. . . Nothing went down. The engine bills did not go down and I think that’s the ironic thing about a lot of these scenarios.” — Kevin Harvick

As of press time, NASCAR has yet to announce what tracks will see an increase in horsepower or any increase in horsepower for 2026.

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