NASCAR Cup Series star Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has downplayed the impact that a highly requested rule change will have on Cup Series racing this season.

After huge demand from drivers, the industry and fans, NASCAR competition officials revealed in October that there would an increase in horsepower for Cup Series cars at certain tracks this upcoming season.

The changes apply to all road courses and oval tracks that are less than 1.5 miles in length, with horsepower increasing from 670 to 750 for these events.

Speaking back in October, NASCAR executive vice president John Probst said: “I would say, 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."

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Will more horsepower improve Cup Series racing?

The idea behind increasing horsepower is that it will improve the racing at these types of tracks, which has generally been poor since the next-gen car was introduced.

However, while he believes it is a step in the right direction, Stenhouse Jr. isn't expecting an 80-horsepower increase to make a major difference.

"I'm looking forward to the horsepower," Stenhouse Jr. said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "Hoping it's in the right direction.

"I don't think it's going to be earth-shattering different. But I think it's gonna be in the right direction."

Despite his scepticism, Stenhouse Jr. believes that the horsepower increase, along with a continued effort from Goodyear to produce a tire that races well but also has fall off, could result in better racing.

"We're starting to see Goodyear get us more tire fall-off at places," he added. "At a Richmond, you throw some more horsepower in there, the tire wear is going to be more, I think the racing's going to be better.

"All in all, everything we're doing is in the right direction."

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Which tracks will NASCAR cars have more horsepower?

Here is the full list of tracks where horsepower will be increased from 670 to 750 in the 2026 Cup Series.

Road Courses

  • Circuit of the Americas
  • Watkins Glen International
  • San Diego Road Course
  • Sonoma Raceway
  • Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL™

Ovals

  • Bowman Gray Stadium
  • Phoenix Raceway
  • Darlington Raceway
  • Martinsville Speedway
  • Bristol Motor Speedway
  • Dover Motor Speedway
  • Nashville Superspeedway
  • North Wilkesboro Speedway
  • Iowa Speedway
  • Richmond Raceway
  • New Hampshire Motor Speedway
  • World Wide Technology Raceway