NASCAR president expects 1-2 new manufacturers, but who?

Which car manufacturers might be willing to jump into NASCAR at the start of the next decade?

The question about whether other car manufacturers might get involved in NASCAR is one that always fascinates fans, and is arguably more compelling than ever in an era when interest in the sport is in decline and cars themselves are declining in significance. Despite that, NASCAR president Steve Phelps believes at least one and possibly two manufacturers will join the competition.

Just not in the next two years.

Phelps expressed his confidence Friday that “we will have a fourth OEM and if we’re lucky enough to have a fifth, that’s great,” a reference to other companies entering the fray with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota. However, he was quick to add that it wouldn’t be in time for the 2019 season nor 2020, in all likelihood.

That’s been NASCAR’s position all along, though there was some thought we might see something by 2020. A bigger question is which car company might see the benefits of supporting stock car racing at its highest level. Here’s a (really) quick overview of the manufacturers who are most often mentioned as candidates in (very) rough estimated order of potentially coming in.

Dodge – Has been in and out of NASCAR for decades, and always seems to be a subject of intense interest whenever adding OEMs comes up. With a shift back toward performance cars like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge also has vehicles which would align with the direction of the Cup Series.

Honda – Always mentioned because the company has deep roots in racing, if not stock car racing. The Honda Civic is the second-best-selling actual car in the U.S. at the moment.

Nissan – There’s a school of thought that Nissan would be interested to boost sales of its pickups by participating in the soon to be Gander Outdoors Truck Series. The Japanese company also has several top-selling car models and could potentially use the GT-R or even Maxima as its Cup Series vehicle.

There are other possibilities as well, but these three would be the ones that would be least surprising if they decided to venture into NASCAR. Whether Phelps’ optimism is justified remains to be seen, but it seems at least possible that the next decade will bring four or five models on the track each week instead of the three we see today, and that alone would be something new to discuss in seasons to come.