{"id":59470,"date":"2019-02-06T07:05:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T15:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=59470"},"modified":"2019-02-06T07:07:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T15:07:25","slug":"nascar-makes-rules-changes-prior-to-season-opener-in-daytona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/nascar-makes-rules-changes-prior-to-season-opener-in-daytona\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Makes Rules Changes Prior to Season Opener in Daytona"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lead-min\"
Image courtesy of screenshots from NASCAR videos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Changes are afoot in the three premiere NASCAR touring series for the coming 2019 season. Aero packages. Imminent disqualifications. New money challenges. More stringent and earlier pre-race inspections.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Makes Changes to Cup Series Horsepower<\/strong> and Aero Packages<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Aero-min\"
Image courtesy of screenshots from NASCAR videos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASCAR has fiddled with aero package rules the past two years with drivers mostly enjoying the changes made and fans mostly being confused what the changes meant. In an effort to make racing more exciting and yet safer, the governing body announced they will limit horsepower output to 550 HP every track larger than 1.2 miles but Daytona and Talladega. Short tracks will see HP max out at 750.<\/p>\n

Aero changes instituted by NASCAR will be quite similar to those that were seen at the Kentucky race last year. Reigning Cup Champion Crew Chief Todd Gordon told reporters he thinks the changes will make for more exciting racing and feels that his driver Joey Logano will have no problems adapting to the changes as he \u201calways seems to be ahead of the car.\u201d Kyle Busch on the other hand doesn\u2019t seem to like the changes, telling reporters he feels the changes, especially those to HP will make it so \u201canybody\u201d can drive a car successfully and that eventually it will make the best drivers leave the sport.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Failing an Earlier Post-Race Inspection May Now Disqualify a Driver<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Inspections-min\"
Image courtesy of screenshots from NASCAR videos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beginning this year race winning cars will no longer be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for post-race inspection. Inspections will now be completed at the track. No longer will those found in major violation be given what amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist. Major violations will now result in the driver being disqualified and stripped of any points earned in the race, including stage points. Violators will now have last place finishes recorded and receive the commensurate purse for last place. If a disqualification occurs, everyone will move up one position. Teams will lose all benefits of a win, including playoff eligibility and points. Inspections should take approximately 90 minutes and will be conducted for all three series. \u00a0This rule change would have removed two wins from the record of Kevin Harvick last year had it been in place for the 2018 season.<\/p>\n

NASCAR\u2019s Executive VP of Competition and Racing Development Steve O\u2019Donnell told reporters \u201cOur industry recognizes the need to focus on what happens on the racetrack. We cannot allow inspection and penalties to continue to be a prolonged story line. Race vehicles are expected to adhere to the rule book from the opening of the garage to the checkered flag.\u201d According to NASCAR at least one random vehicle will still be taken to the R&D Center for tear down inspection but no penalties will most likely be assessed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Changes to Qualifying and Eligibility <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Qualifying-min\"
Image courtesy of screenshots from NASCAR videos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASCAR recently limited the number of races in the other series that Cup drivers can compete in and fans saw that as a good thing. This year they\u2019ve said that only Gander Outdoor Truck Series drivers will be eligible to drive in the series finale at Homestead-Miami. Cup drivers are still barred from competing in the Dash4Cash races in the XFINITY series.<\/p>\n

Last year the first qualifying round for all three series lasted 15 minutes round. This year that\u2019s been reduced to 10 minutes. Rounds two and three will remain unchanged at ten and five minutes respectively.\u00a0 Finally, the break\/cool-down period between rounds will be reduced from seven to five minutes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Gets Its Own Version of the \u201cDash4Cash\u201d This Year<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Gander-Outdoor-min\"
Image courtesy of screenshots from NASCAR videos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u201cDash4Cash races in the XFINITY series make for some exciting racing action. Seeing this, NASCAR has decided to add a similar program to the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series. It\u2019s being called the \u201cTriple Truck Challenge\u201d and will be held at the three June races -Texas, Iowa, and Gateway. Only drivers that have declared for points in the Truck Series will be eligible to win.<\/p>\n

This \u201cChallenge\u201d is sure to up the ante on the excitement level at these three races, especially if one driver wins the first two races. Single race winners at these three tracks will take home an extra $50k. Win two and you\u2019ll be taking home and extra $150k, and if you\u2019re able to take the top spot in all three races you\u2019ll be going home $500k richer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changes are afoot in the three premiere NASCAR touring series for the coming 2019 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":59471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3424,3470,5029],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-59470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-news","category-racing","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Lead-min-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-ftc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59470"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59479,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59470\/revisions\/59479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}