TRENDING Ravens look ugly on 'TNF' LSU women break D-I record Week 9 fantasy sleepers NFL trade deadline buzz Ranking NBA rookie phenoms Story by Story by NASCAR exploring cost cap after talks with Formula 1 Motorsport photo Nick DeGroot · Motorsport Fri, November 6, 2026 at 7:27 PM UTC · 2 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement During the annual State of the Sport address at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell touched on a variety of topics. Among them was the concept of a cost cap in NASCAR.
Formula 1 introduced a cost cap in 2021, with the system also contributing to increased team valuations.
NASCAR could adopt a cost cap in the future, and O'Donnell said the series has discussed the concept with Formula 1 as the series has recently implemented its own . NASCAR has openly considered such a system for more than a year, but it was difficult to make any progress until the lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports was settled, which led to changes to the charter system.
"I would say when I think of a cost cap -- not me personally -- I think when NASCAR thinks of it, what's the biggest reason you would do it? The biggest reason you would do it in my opinion would be that team valuation would go up," said O'Donnell.
"You've seen that, right, with Formula 1. So I would expect that the teams would be absolutely for this. If you have interests that are going to come in and evaluate your team of where are you at, having a cost cap is a big deal."
O'Donnell said there was still disagreement among owners, citing "debate from some of the owners of, "does this make sense?" It's costly to do that. It's complicated. We've talked to the folks at F1 about how many accountants they have to have at a team to make this happen."
NASCAR Chief Executive Officer Steve O'Donnell
NASCAR has 36 chartered Cup teams across 15 organizations, some fielding just one full-time entry while teams like Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have four each.
"It is true when you look across the pond at F1, it has helped from a team valuation standpoint," continued O'Donnell. "I don't have anything to announce today. I will say it is part of the discussions with the teams. But I would not say that everyone is aligned in terms of it happening. But we have done a ton of work, Scott Prime (Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer] does we have done a ton of work on what could happen so we could be ready, but nothing imminent.
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