NASCAR tweaks starting lineups, issues other rule changes

During a competition briefing on Tuesday at its R&D Center in Concord, N.C., NASCAR unveiled some tweaks to its qualifying procedures for Cup Series races.

The change will affect all races except those on superspeedways since group qualifying isn’t used at those tracks.

At all others, all entries will still be split into two groups for qualifying, with the fastest five drivers from each group advancing to the final round. Those 10 cars will then compete for the pole. How those 10 cars finish in the final round will set the first 10 positions on the track for the race.

However, as far as positions 11-40, cars that do not advance from Group A will determine the outside row for starting positions 11-40 (fastest to slowest), while the remaining cars from Group B will determine the inside row.

Previously, the cars that finished outside the top five in the two groups were seeded 11-40 based on their fastest qualifying lap regardless of which group they came from.

Cup series managing director Brad Moran said the change came after consulting teams and drivers with the goal hoping to eliminate or reduce any advantage received by drivers being in a particular group as track conditions change.

Group assignments will continue to be determined by performance metrics, which consider fastest lap time position, driver’s final race finish position, owner’s final race finish position and owner points position.

Among other items announced Tuesday:

– NASCAR will continue to use mufflers for the preseason Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Chicago street race but has adapted a new design it helps to decrease the amount of heat in the cars generated by the mufflers.

– NASCAR tested a full battery electric race car – with a compact utility vehicle design – for three days at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The car, which has no manufacturer-specific design, did 340 laps over three days with driver David Ragan.

– Following the Daytona 500, NASCAR will do more paving in the area of Ryan Preece’s wreck which took place near the backstretch chicane. It had already paved some of the grass area earlier this month.

– Cup teams will be allowed to have LED boards on their pit box signs to allow sponsor signage.

– Both the Xfinity and Truck series will have live pit stops at all races barring unforeseen circumstances.

– The Xfinity Series will once again offer the “Dash 4 Cash’ bonus program. The qualifying race will be March at Richmond, Va. The four races which will pay the bonus are Martinsville, Texas, Talladega and Dover.

– The Truck Series will once again offer the “Triple Truck Challenge” bonus. The three races the bonus will be paid are Charlotte, Gateway and Nashville.