In a recent interview, Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines, claims that he would like to see NASCAR “be open-minded and try some things.” As CEO of one of NASCAR’s top engine builders, Yates spoke on the debate on raising horsepower in NASCAR and what a realistic, cost-effective boost in power could look like.
When recently speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines, discussed the often-debated potential to boost horsepower in NASCAR Cup Series engines. The former team owner reiterated that a return to the 900 HP days is unlikely, but that doesn’t mean a potentially meaningful boost in horsepower is impossible.
Yates opened by saying, “As an engine builder, of course, more power is better for us, but as a sport, you know, we’ve got to be careful.” He also cited the days of multiple engine swaps and $4.5 million per car engine programs, saying, “it got to a point where we’ve got to do something to back these [engines] down a little bit and we need to extend the life of them.”
The multifaceted industry veteran told SiriusXM that a slight increase from the current 650 to 670 HP package to roughly 750 HP may not be a challenge; however, 900 HP engines are extremely unlikely to return.
“So if we were to increase the power from 670 horsepower to about 750 horsepower, that probably wouldn’t be much of a change for us, today, but to go back to those 900 horsepower engines, that would be quite the project and it would definitely decrease the life of the engines.” — Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines
Yates says that NASCAR Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst has a tough job. Everyone wants to improve racing, but it will always be a balancing act between increasing power and saving teams money.
“John Probst and his team, they have a, you know, a tough job because we want to continue to make the racing better, specifically the short track racing, and they want to be open-minded about those things, but the balance is is being open-minded and not driving the cost back to where it was before. . . But I would like to see them be open-minded and try some things.” — Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines
As CEO of the only NASCAR Cup Series Ford Engines, Yates may be one of the most insightful members of the garage area. Even more valuable to this debate is that Yeates also has the perspective of a team owner, having taken on the role at Yates Racing after his father, Robert, retired.
The horsepower debate has raged on for years, with NASCAR slowing down the drop in horsepower in cars throughout the years. However, since the introduction of the NASCAR Next Gen car in 2022, this debate has taken on new life as fans want to see if a boost in horsepower could help the car’s struggling short-track racing product.
This small boost, which Yates says “probably wouldn’t be much of a change,” was also recently proposed by a NASCAR Cup Series driver and team owner. After the Cup Series race at Darlington, Denny Hamlin told SiriusXM, “I don’t see a reason not to go back to the 750 and just try it.”
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