By Jerry Jordan, Editor
JOLIET, Il. – When NASCAR teams take to the track this afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway for their qualifying runs, they will not have been required to pass through the room of doom, a.k.a. optical scanning station (OSS), as they have in the past.
NASCAR is changing the script and full inspection will be done after time trials. It was a plan that was supposed have been rolled out at Martinsville Speedway earlier in the season but inclement weather put a freeze on things – literally. And going forward, the post-qualifying inspection procedures will be implemented for all tracks where NASCAR is using the enhanced schedule where Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams are only on the track for two days.
Cars still must conform and pass safety, fuel cell, engine and splitter rules prior to getting on the track but the body measurements from the OSS won’t be checked unless teams voluntarily go through it, a NASCAR spokesperson said.
However, if a team fails the OSS after making a qualifying run, there are severe penalties – starting with a disallowed time and starting from the back of the field. If teams fail a second time they will lose a crew member of NASCAR’s choosing, the spokesperson said. A third time will result in both of the first two penalties and the loss of 10 points.
The NASCAR spokesperson said teams must pass post-qualifying inspection even if it takes more than three trips through the OSS and points penalties will be assessed until teams are successful.
This rates as one of the dumbest things they’ve come up with to date. And there have been sone doozies. Why in the hell they continue to change rules and procedures during the racing season is asinine. Don’t they understand that the fans don’t like it. I have no objection to doing things this way if it is implemented before the season begins. Why the owners put up with this non-sense is beyond me. Next week they’ll do things differently. You just don’t experiment when fans are spending a lot of time and money to attend these races.
This was something that drivers and teams agreed upon with NASCAR and something they believe will be beneficial going forward to both streamline inspection and ensure there is a proper penalty when teams “bend” the rules. I am all for change when it is a good change and this is good. It will be even better if it continues and becomes the norm but they are testing it to see how well the process works. Trust me, when I tell you fans were angry at teams and drivers when they were missing inspection so they could have better tires because they knew they could come from the back. — Jerry Jordan, Editor