NASCAR Cup cars will get more horsepower in 2026
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR Cup Series cars will get more horsepower at ovals under 1.5 miles and road courses in 2026, the sanctioning body confirmed Wednesday.
The Cup cars will run with 750 horsepower at almost every track in 2026, up from 670 this year. Here are the tracks where that will happen:
Bowman Gray Stadium, Circuit of the Americas, Phoenix Raceway, Darlington Raceway, Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, San Diego Street Course, Sonoma Raceway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Richmond Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway, Charlotte Roval.
“Like any other change that we are considering to the cars, we listen to the fans a lot. We listen to the drivers. We have stakeholders in the broadcast, OEM (manufacturers) and team competition and team business folks, so there’s always no shortage of feedback that we get. Our fans are very passionate, they provide very candid feedback, so that all is very important to us. We do listen to it. We are working on a lot of things in the background, we don’t often always talk about them until we’re ready to come out and announce an implementation plan for them. Their feedback is very important, said John Probst, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer.
The three superspeedway tracks – Daytona, Talladega, Atlanta – will continue to run with a 510-horsepower engine package. The intermediate tracks (e.g., Kansas, Las Vegas, Charlotte) and Michigan will stick with the current 670-horsepower package.
Calls for horsepower have come as a result of short tracks and road courses waning from universally loved with the Gen 6 car to somewhat dreaded with the NextGen car. The NextGen car saw horsepower go from 750 to 670 on those tracks and tracks like Dover, Nashville Superspeedway and Darlington.
With this move, those tracks will get that horsepower back.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com