TC Daily Pit Stop: Increase in Horsepower an 'Ongoing Discussion'; iRacing Releases Driver Roster for Upcoming Console Game

TC Daily Pit Stop: Thursday, August 7th, 2025

Aug 07, 2025

Elton Sawyer says NASCAR and industry stakeholders are having conversations about increasing horsepower for the NASCAR Cup Series cars at short tracks, but changes likely won't come until the 2026 season. — Photo Credit: Craig White | TobyChristie.com

Following another frustrating short-track show for the NASCAR Cup Series this past weekend in the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway, disgruntled fans and those within the industry took to social media begging for a fix for the Next Gen car’s short-track package.

While NASCAR has attempted a lot of changes between aerodynamic packages and a variety of softer tire compounds from Goodyear to cure the issues, nothing has worked to deliver a decent product on short tracks in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, there is one change that the sanctioning body has been hesitant to pull the trigger on, which the fans, media, and competitors alike have been very vocal about — increasing the horsepower.

In a weekly interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR SVP of Competition, spoke about the prospect of increasing the horsepower totals for the NASCAR Cup Series cars at short track events, and he said discussions to do just that among the stakeholders in the sport are progressing well. Sawyer expects short-track horsepower to potentially increase for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.

iRacing Reveals Massive 176-Driver Roster for NASCAR 25 Console Game

iRacing reveals massive 176-driver roster for upcoming NASCAR 25 console game release.

It’s almost here. The first-ever NASCAR console game produced by iRacing, titled NASCAR 25, has an official release date of October 14, 2025 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game will drop on PC via Steam soon after the initial October 14 release date.

While everyone continues to anxiously await the release of official gameplay footage from the highly anticipated video game, iRacing has revealed the full driver roster for the game, which will feature the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and, for the first time ever in a console game, the ARCA Menards Series.

In total, iRacing has dropped a driver roster featuring 176 licensed real-world drivers from the world of NASCAR. Currently, it doesn’t look like the game will feature legendary race car drivers such as Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, or others, unless that feature has yet to be announced for the upcoming NASCAR 25 game.