bob forkras
Fox NASCAR Insider
Here are the biggest messages from last week’s rule changes in NASCAR. Don’t intentionally abandon other drivers seriously. Otherwise, the results could ruin your season.
NASCAR hasn’t said this outright, but the new exemption rules certainly indicate this.
NASCAR announced that if a driver is absent for non-medical (or family emergency) reasons, the driver will forfeit all playoff points earned during the regular season if a waiver is issued to maintain playoff eligibility while missing a race .
This means that a driver’s points that make it to the playoffs will be reset to 2000 points with no added playoff points. If a driver advances to the next round, only the playoff points earned in the previous round will be added to his 3000 points.
When a driver does something so egregious on the track (or potentially off the track) that NASCAR feels they have to bench him or her, it’s a huge blow to a moment of indiscretion.
Because suspensions now carry more weight than in the past, NASCAR needs to handle these situations with a little more nuance. And there was a need for it. Should we destroy a driver’s championship chances? if. This will be a good test to see which drivers can stop other drivers from hooking up on the racetrack.
This rule will also affect Kyle Larson in his Indy 500 attempt. If he doesn’t return to start the Cup race in Charlotte, he will lose all of his playoff points. It certainly hurts the drivers hoping to do the double that NASCAR has to accommodate, but it was clear last year that NASCAR doesn’t want to play second fiddle for any reason. It’s disappointing because the potential windfall of attention generated by a star driver trying to compete in both IndyCar and NASCAR on the same day makes the no-consequence waiver seem like a given.
The ironic part? Another NASCAR rule is designed to accommodate drivers from other series, as it allows world-class drivers from other series to occupy the No. 41 spot in a race if necessary (provided they do not skip a race in their own series). racing field if the driver does not naturally qualify.
This means Helio Castroneves will make the Daytona 500. He will naturally want to make it. Because if you qualify, it means Trackhouse can make you money. If a team is not eligible to race with a star driver from another series and is given the 41st place spot, the team will get no money.
This rule may reduce the cost of racing for drivers, but it also attracts attention. It also establishes a mechanism to ensure that the country’s star drivers are guaranteed a spot to compete when NASCAR races internationally, as it does this year in Mexico City.
Whether it was necessary or not is debatable and it certainly wasn’t what people wanted. So for those who wonder why we do that, it is a valid question. But if this ultimately brings more attention to the sport, that’s fine.
Hopefully one thing it won’t do is create unnecessary controversy, which the damaged car policy seemed to do, especially in the next generation of automobiles, and especially this season.
Under the new rules, NASCAR now sets up procedures for teams to work on their cars in designated areas of their garages. With the next generation of cars, there will be less work to do to weld and work, so you won’t have as much to worry about your team spending an hour working on the car and then still putting it on the track with a seriously damaged car. . The new rule also takes it out of NASCAR’s hands on whether towing to a garage can end a driver’s day.
Every time NASCAR creates a rule, there are questions about unintended consequences. Will a driver who has been suspended and qualified for the playoffs take a different approach to racing knowing there are no playoff points on the table? Will there be a rush of teams and drivers seeking interim designations for world-class talent rather than full-time NASCAR drivers? Will damaged cars that would previously have been excluded under the damaged vehicle policy now get back on the track and receive a caution?
Everything is possible. But for better or worse? In most cases, these rule changes appear to be for the better.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has covered motorsports for decades, including more than 30 Daytona 500s, working for ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @Bobpokras.
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