NASCAR Fans React to NASCAR’s Latest EV News

What’s Happening?

The news that NASCAR has discussed making its crossover-style EV the official car of the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has shaken up the NASCAR world, with some fans revolting at the idea of such a dramatic shift for one of the sport’s most storied series.

.@NASCAR EVP John Probst is helping plan the future of stock car racing into the 2030s, including evaluating the potential of one day using its crossover utility vehicle EV in the O’Reilly Series as well as experimenting with a hydrogen combustion engine. https://t.co/DunRc2Z3bv

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) April 20, 2026

NASCAR is already into its Next Gen era, with the Gen-7 car introduced in 2022, the sanctioning body wasted little time in looking further down the road.

Its research and development arm introduced an electric vehicle at Chicago during the following Cup season in 2023, albeit as a prototype, planting a flag for what may come next.

Now, John Probst, NASCAR’s Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer, is again steering the conversation to the future as the sport attempts to chart a course into the 2030s.

With NASCAR’s R&D division building its first electric vehicle, Probst claimed in a recent report from Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal that NASCAR is weighing the possibility of deploying its crossover utility vehicle EV in NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

Probst said, “There is certainly a needle to be threaded there along the line of entertainment and sport, and maybe you can even go beyond sport and just say pure engineering. I think for us, I feel like we don’t need to be on the absolute bleeding edge of powertrain technology to be relevant to our OEMs and also be entertaining to our fans.”

He also pointed to branding as a key factor behind the potential shift. “If you look at the brand identity of those three, the O’Reilly Series struggles a little bit just from the car perspective, and you see it a lot because we refer to it often as whoever the entitlement sponsor is,” he explained.

“Long term, you see it as, we do have that CUV body that we developed for our electric vehicle. I’m not sitting here saying today we’re breaking news it’s going to CUV, but these are the things that are on the roadmap to consider, so you’d have a Truck, a CUV and a Cup, that’s three very different bodies that are relevant for our OEMs today to create that brand identity for each series.”

But while the blueprint is being drawn in boardrooms, the reaction outside has been anything but muted.

Fans’ Reactions to a Potential Overhaul of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series

Fans, who have long tied the sport’s appeal to the sound and feel of combustion engines, have pushed back against the idea. The growl of engines and the combustion under the hood remain part of the sport’s fabric, and, with the major changes of the NASCAR Next Gen car, the OAP Series car is the only National Series car that feels like days of old.

The response from fans have reflected that divide. One fan wrote, “Man these guys don’t have a clue. Always focused on the wrong things. Won’t be much left to “plan” for at this rate of decline…”

Another added, “Don’t ruin what we have in @NASCAROReillyAP with these EV’s. Here’s a WILD idea, actual street cars cars from the showroom. 🤯🤣”

Another voice echoed the concern, stating, “Sure yea, let’s ruin the one good series we still have! – some exec in Daytona probably.”

Others struck a similar chord, with one saying, “I really think @NASCAR needs a whole new decision Board. They just need to focus on giving teams what they need and fans what they want. Good racing!!”

As of now, between the push for change and the pull of tradition, NASCAR will soon be walking a tightrope, trying to keep one foot in engineering progress while the other stays planted in the identity that built the sport.

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