NASCAR officials confirmed a series of changes that will be implemented during the 2026 Cup Series campaign.

Last month, NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell informed Dale Earnhardt Jr. that the sanctioning body plans to increase the target horsepower for Next Gen cars to 750 hp at all road courses and tracks under 1.5 miles in length during next season.

On Friday, competition officials shed light on how exactly that goal would be accomplished. In 2026, Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Dover Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway will transition to the short-track/road-course package, which utilizes a three-inch rear spoiler and less diffuser strakes.

While making an appearance on the ‘Dale Jr. Download,’ O’Donnell explained why NASCAR landed on 750 horsepower. “So, why 750? Why not 800? Why not 1,000? So, if you look at where we are today, where we can go without completely changing over the industry,” he said.

“And so whatever you do, you want to make sure that if you’re going to change the horsepower within the car, you’ve got to match it up with the aero of the car, you’ve got to match it up with braking. All of these different things come into play.”

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Throughout the brainstorming process, NASCAR considered enforcing an even greater increase in horsepower. Yet the decisionmakers ultimately settled on 750 due to the costs that race teams and engine builders would rack up.

“If you went beyond 750, we looked at almost $40-50 million cost to the industry,” O’Donnell said. “And so if you look at our job, it’s, yeah, you want to make a call right away. But you’ve got to think about the out years.

“We’re looking at Dodge coming into the sport, we’re looking at other OEMs coming into the sport, and then our current partners. Three-year runway, we didn’t want to say, ‘Alright, it’s 1,000 now,’ and then, just kidding, three years from now, we’re changing it again. That’s 100s of millions of dollars to the industry.”

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The increase in horsepower is far from the only revision to the NASCAR rule book. A-post flaps — a safety measure that helps reduce the likelihood of liftoff during a spinout — will additionally be mandated at every Cup Series track. This year, they were implemented at Talladega Superspeedway, Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway.

Starting next year, the underbelly of the flap must be painted bright orange. In the past, the only requirement was that it needed to be a high-visibility or contrasting color. For new manufacturers (OEMs) entering the Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series — previously known as Xfinity — or Craftsman Truck Series, a handful of new testing procedures have also been outlined.

Per the rulebook, this criterion includes: “A maximum of three tests for new OEMs, with each test limited to a maximum of three affiliated organizations with two vehicles each. Tests must be a maximum of two consecutive days each. Tests to be completed by March 1. Tests prohibited at tracks that have been repaved, are new to the schedule, or that will host events within 60 days of the test session.”