By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
After a “complete mockery” of qualifying was made at Auto Club Speedway in California two weeks ago, NASCAR announced changes to qualifying in all three national series effective immediately this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
In the final round of qualifying at Auto Club, all 12 participants were unable to take a lap before time expired. After two weeks of deliberating with the intended goal of keeping group qualifying, NASCAR announced Monday new procedures.
NASCAR will set up designated staging areas for vehicles at the end of pit road once they leave the pit stall. If a driver leaves the staging area, they must continue directly onto the racing surface.
If two single file lanes are formed, the middle lane must be left open for competitors to enter the track unimpeded. If a driver is deemed to have blocked pit road in a way that prohibits others from entering the race track, NASCAR will enforce a penalty such as disallowing the teams posted qualifying time or disqualifying the car from any additional rounds of qualifying.
Any driver that does not take a lap in any of the qualifying rounds, all previously posted times will be disallowed resulting in them having to start at the rear of the field.
“Qualifying is an important element of the race weekend, and NASCAR
has worked closely with the teams to implement a procedure that is
both fair from a competition perspective and entertaining for our
fans,” said Scott Miller, senior vice president of competition for NASCAR. “Starting this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, we will
implement a procedural change that will be in effect for all three
national series. We expect the updated procedure to result in a better
outcome for drivers, fans and our track and broadcast partners.”
The goal of these changes is to create order on pit road and to retake control of qualifying.