{"id":533634,"date":"2026-03-13T12:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533634\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T12:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:01:14","slug":"ricky-stenhouse-joins-denny-hamlin-chase-briscoe-in-firing-up-nascar-fans-with-increased-horsepower-chaos-at-darlington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533634\/","title":{"rendered":"Ricky Stenhouse joins Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe in firing up NASCAR fans with increased horsepower, chaos at Darlington"},"content":{"rendered":"

The anticipation is growing for the March 22 NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway with Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe predicting things to be \u201cout of control<\/a>.\u201d Ricky Stenhouse Jr. joined in this week, he too believing Darlington will be challenging for drivers and teams. <\/p>\n

Hamlin said he wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see tire fall off in the four-second range or more<\/a>. Stenhouse is right there with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would believe that. I would believe four seconds. Yeah, no doubt,\u201d Stenhouse told Steven Taranto<\/a>. \u201cEven if you didn\u2019t change the horsepower, just change the downforce package, I think we would look at three-ish seconds at least. You add the horsepower, it\u2019ll be tough to put the power down. So, I definitely could see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you listened to Actions Detrimental yesterday, you heard Denny Hamlin predict there could be as much as four seconds of falloff at Darlington with more horsepower and less downforce this year. Asked Ricky Stenhouse about that prediction, and\u2026<\/p>\n

“I would believe that. I would\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/oPv0gw3hqd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) March 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

This will be the first race at Darlington to use the new short track package, which features 750 horsepower, a three-inch rear spoiler, and fewer diffuser strakes. The package made its oval debut this past Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, and the racing was seen as a massive improvement over previous events at the 1-mile oval. <\/p>\n

Darlington shaping up to be race full of chaos<\/p>\n

In 10 days, the package comes to Darlington, already one of the sketchiest tracks on the schedule. Briscoe warned it could be their hardest test all season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be absolutely out of control,\u201d Briscoe said on\u00a0the Gluckast<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be I think the hardest track we run on all year long. The added power is one thing, but the biggest thing is taking the diffuser and everything off. I mean, I\u2019ve ran the sim for probably a week-and-a-half and you are crashing every corner on every lap, even on new tires.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is out of control. It\u2019ll be very interesting in practice, qualifying, like, literally the whole weekend I think is gonna be must see. One team is gonna hit it right and they are gonna murder the field I feel like, just because of how drastically different this thing drives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just like that, Darlington is a must-see event. The excitement should only build as we get past Sunday\u2019s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n