NASCAR EVs Set to Make Track Debut in Chicago Spark Questions About Sport’s Future

NASCAR electric vehicles will take to the street circuit in ‘exhibition track laps’ during the race weekend in Chicago to showcase the prototypes developed in partnership with ABB. However, this raises questions about whether the sport could have an electric Cup Series in the future.

Newsweek Sports published a report in April suggesting that while NASCAR has no plans to electrify the Cup Series, David Ragan, the development driver of NASCAR’s electric vehicle project, revealed an interesting trend that could hint at a step away from tradition in the future.

Ragan explained that depending on the sale of electric vehicles, an upward trend could lead to a separate series for electric stock car racing, as consumers look to see their own car models compete on the racetrack.

“As the consumers start to buy more EVs, I think NASCAR sees a demand that the consumers want to see that car racing on the racetrack. And it is still a stock car series.

“I see manufacturers coming out with new models and some pretty cars that they plan on selling a lot of in the future. So it’s only appropriate that NASCAR learns what that might look like to help the manufacturers out. NASCAR certainly couldn’t do any kind of a series if it wasn’t for the manufacturer support.

“You’ve got to have manufacturer support that says, ‘Hey, we want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars supporting our race teams so we can market to our customers and show them how our cars perform.’

“There are more EVs that are driven to NASCAR races today than there were five years ago, and I would think in five more years, there’s going to be a lot more. So I think it’s just a matter of time.”

NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney confirmed that an all-electric series will not replace the current Cup Series. He said on the Team Blaney Podcast:

“Let me put everyone at ease. It’s not going to replace the Cup Series, like you said. It’s not going to do that. At least not in my lifetime.

“I think they’re unique. They’re neat. I don’t see a downside. Like, who cares that each manufacturer has one? It’s something that they can kind of show off and throw out there. They’re trying to balance the electric and gas-powered vehicles. You have to balance that out. So, I get their desire to want to have a race car. A Cup [Series] car like that.”