NASCAR Says It Is Pushing To Go ‘Full Hybrid’ After 2021
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It’s no secret that NASCAR is looking to attract new, younger fans to the sport and also get former fans to return to the couch on Sundays to watch some racing. It has implemented things like stage racing and the playoffs in an attempt to make the on-screen product more entertaining.
The series is also looking to appease manufacturers with its seventh-generation car, which will debut for the 2021 racing season. The next-gen car will enable manufacturers to design bodies that will better represent the production cars they are inspired by and will also allow for more tech transfer between the track and the street thanks to things like larger wheels with lower-profile tires.
However, manufacturers may also be pushing for the race series to implement some form of hybrid technology, with NASCAR’s Senior Vice President for Innovation and Racing Development, John Probst, telling TechCrunch they may implement electrification systems from the 2022 racing season onward.
“We travel the world visiting other sanctioning bodies and are not ignorant to the fact that the world’s going towards more hybrid technology,” Probst said. “We’re pushing to go full hybrid. I don’t know where the balance nets out for us long-term, but some form of hybrid technology is certainly on our radar… after 2021.”
Probst explained that hybrid technology won’t be on the next-generation car when it makes its on-track debut in 2021, as it would be too complicated to make so many changes all at once. Instead, it will arrive for 2022, or perhaps later. He also said that “nothing is confirmed until it hits the race track,” so it sounds as though discussions regarding hybridization within NASCAR are still in their early stages.
The hybrid systems will likely first appear on short-track and road-course cars, as tracks like these require braking. Hybrid and electric vehicles typically use regenerative braking to recharge their batteries, so having such a system on a full-throttle track like Daytona may be more complicated. Probst said he believes there are “some deployment options for intermediates and our speedways that can be explored,” although they may take a little longer to develop.
“Braking is typically used as a mechanism to get the power back into the batteries. As far as when you actually apply the power. I think that’s what we need to study… and work through with our OEMs on how it’s deployed,” he told the publication.
Probst then went on to explain that hybrid tech could be used on superspeedways or intermediate tracks to provide a temporary boost in power—sort of like IndyCar’s push-to-pass system. IndyCar doesn’t use hybrid tech to implement push-to-pass, however, instead giving drivers a temporary boost in turbocharger pressure when they hit a button on their steering wheel.
The OEMs involved in NASCAR (Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford) may be pushing NASCAR to introduce hybrid technology as they begin to roll out more hybrid and electric road cars. Ford Performance’s NASCAR supervisor Pat DiMarco said that “NASCAR looking at a hybrid for the future is of interest to us,” so the rollout of the technology in the series may help keep manufacturers interested in the sport for the future.
Team Penske/Ford driver Brad Keselowski said he was a “big fan” of the idea as well, so the introduction of hybrid cars in NASCAR truly does seem like a question of when, more than if.
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Huh? They’re already “hybrids”.
They burn Gas, Oil and Rubber.
You were born a few days ago? Hybrids (gasoline and electricity) have existed for over one hundred years! One of the first was built by Ferdinand Porsche.
Yes, I was… and look how well I can type.
I’m taking Violin lessons next week.
NASCAR has ruined stock car racing and if they keep this shit up it will be the end of NASCAR
Few care!
I was a major NASCAR fan since the late 60’s and today it is rare if I watch a race.
This playing games with the series like the chase and other things has lost my interest.
When a driver can miss half a season and still win a championship was the end for me.
That is worse than any BOP in IMSA.
Today IMSA and the Trans Am series is better racing. The Trans Am reminds me of we’re NASCAR was and should be.
Stop playing the PC games and just get the best drivers even if the are not refined and keep the cars simple.
If things were like they are now in the past we would never have heard of Petty, Pierson, Weatherly, Turner or Earnhardt, Ralph or Dale.
Death knell for NASCAR.
No, the future will be electrics! Have you watched how a Tesla Model S P90D can out accelerate almost any gasoline car? Battery swapping has already been done and tested, so a pit stop will just swap tires and a battery. No more gasoline!
Crews working with 300-400volt systems during a race, not good. Lithium ion fire after the big one at Daytona or Talladega, no thanks. Does anyone even give a crap about Formula E?
Is “full hybrid” an oxymoron? Either way NASCAR lost me a while back
I can see this on indy cars but not nascar.. big mistake…
NAS(PHEV)CAR?
Where’s the exit? …ooh, my bad, I left long ago! ?
Ford can race now with hybrids, since the present Fusion has been a hybrid since 2009.
Ah Ray the Ford teams use a Mustang and the Fusion is on its death bed.
Race finds don’t pay to see slot cars. The sound and smell are part of the experience.
Sorry, nobody wants to see a Nascar race that’s hybrid or battery driven. People want to hear the roar of V8 engines. That’s like going to watch drag racing with battery powered cars. People want to hear the nitro burning/exploding, smell the fuel and see the flames. Nascar has been dying a slow death for 20 years at least. This will be the fork that sticks them for good.
But there was an article on the site a year or so back, about how hybrids would be good for fuel saving under caution and such. I hate the idea of hybrids in NASCAR, but it is STOCK car racing, so I do think it should mirror what’s happening in the car world, if that means hybrids, crossovers, or whatever, like it or not. I think that would boost at least its image if not its popularity.
There is nothing stock about stock car racing in NASCAR. Every car is the same, except for the engines and they don’t resemble actual production motors
Put stop will be half hour so they can charge batteries. LOL
Been a fan for years. It will seem strange to live without nascar.
Will just have to support the local short track.
Racers and race fans don’t want electric junk. If NASCAR switches to electric or even hybrid I will be done for good.
NASCAR is racing powered by small block V8’s. Not 4-poppers, not 6-bangers and certainly not electric motors.
I followed nascar since the early 50s. If they change i will be all done.
NASCAR is destroying auto racing, and if they keep up making these stupid changes it will be lost forever.