NASCAR champion claims Cup Series needs 'drastic' rule changes

Kyle Larson has claimed NASCAR Cup Series drivers would be 'all for' a big change to the series' rules.

NASCAR finally appear open to discussing an increase in horsepower from the current 670 up to 750, which it claims would be the highest possible number which wouldn't make costs prohibitively high.

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Drivers and fans have been calling for an increase for some time now, with three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart claiming more than half the field approached NASCAR with the suggestion – among others – years ago but were shot down.

However, NASCAR's managing director of racing communications Mike Forde said last week: “I’m sure that [horsepower] will come up this weekend, and that’s something that we’re going to look at seriously. You hear levels of 900, 1000 horsepower, whatever, I don’t know if that’s – that’s not on the table just because of the cost.

“But there’s some conversation of, can you go up to 750? That’s something that I’m sure we’ll discuss with the drivers, too.”

Larson: We're in need of drastic change

Speaking to the media at Kansas on the weekend, Larson backed the idea of moving to a higher horsepower limit but claimed that the sports needs 'drastic' changes rather than incremental ones.

“I think we would be all for trying something," he said. “I don’t know if it’s going to change the racing, drastically. It’s a decent size increase but it’s not massive.

“I’d be open for it. I know we all are. I think it’s gotten a little bit stale, the racing product. We’re in need of a drastic change to try and help. I think it would help, it would be a good start.”

Larson will be in action at the All-Star Race on Sunday as he attempts to win a record-tying fourth edition of the race, although he'll be dependent on Justin Allgaier for his starting position as he skips All-Star qualifying and the heat races to compete in Indy 500 qualifying.

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