NASCAR chief admits rule change 'on the table' as Cup Series changes debated

A high-ranking NASCAR official has confirmed that the series is looking into a major change for the competition's future.

A number of drivers have been campaigning for a horsepower bump over the last half decade, and NASCAR officials seem to be more willing than ever to re-push the envelope of their current engine limits.

All of this follows NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer previously hinting that horsepower numbers may be set for a jump.

The suggested upside is that drivers would be more able to push their rivals on shot and mid-track courses, with increased speeds leading to harder breaking, and more tire wear on corners, leading to more interesting racing.

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NASCAR: Tall mountain to climb

NASCAR senior director of competition communications Mike Forde had hinted at the move last month, saying: saying: "That’s something that I’m sure we’ll discuss with the drivers. I don’t want to make any promises or get anyone’s hopes up, but that is, we seriously listen to the drivers and their feedback, and we’ll see what we can do there.”

This week, senior vice president of competition Sawyer admitted on SiriusXM: ”We are working closely with all the stakeholders in the industry, and as I said, the collaboration has been better than ever in our sport on all topics.

"This particular one, had a team owner council meeting last week, came up and we discussed that. Working closely, I know [senior vice president of innovation and racing development] John Probst had a conversation with our engine builder to see what we could do, how that would look and what changes would need to be made."

He added caveats, including those for superspeedways and such, but continued: “As we talked about before, there’s the efficiencies that come with our rules and regulations that we have today and if you look at engines — there’s a lot that goes into it and it’s a tall mountain to climb, but we’re willing to do that to give our race fans the best product.

"Again, behind the scenes, there are a lot of conversations going on. How can we do that? Where do we do it? Is it across the board? Obviously, that’s not gonna be superspeedways. It’s just a lot to digest. But what I will say is it’s on the forefront. It is on the table and something that we’re discussing daily.”

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