NASCAR published a litany of updates to its rule book on Friday afternoon, many of which addressed lingering issues from over the duration of the 2024 season, most notably including race manipulation and the damaged vehicle policy.
It’s also added a new rule, which guarantees a starting position for a ‘world class driver’ in any NASCAR Cup Series event, starting this season.
Let’s start there:
Open Exemption Provisional
This is basically a NASCAR equivalent of a ‘promoter’s choice provisional’ used in short track and dirt track racing to guarantee a starting position for a special participant. Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently used something like this to start the South Carolina 400 Late Model Stock race in November at Florence Motor Speedway.
This Open Entrant Provisional (OEP) would only be triggered if the entry list exceeded the current maximum starting lineup of 40 cars and eligible drivers would need pre-approval 90 days prior to the event they are participating in.
By definition, it is for ‘world class drivers who enter a NASCAR Cup Series race.’
That driver would be added to the field as a 41st driver if otherwise failing to qualifying but would also then be ineligible for championship points from the event, prize money and playoff eligibility. The latter matters because it’s possible that car could be entered as one chasing the owner’s championship.
Additionally, any car in the finishing order below the OEP will have their officially finishing positions adjusted upwards by one spot and have their prize money, race points and stage points adjusted as if that driver wasn’t in the race.
However, if the OEP driver wins a race or stage, that car will be credited with the race win, including the trophy and its All-Star Race eligibility, but the finish will not count towards playoff eligibility. In this scenario, the second-place finisher will inherit first place points but will not receive playoff points commensurate to the position.
That’s one playoff point for a stage win or five playoff points for the race win.
Helio Castroneves has requested the use of an OEP for the Daytona 500 and is guaranteed a starting spot in the Great American Race now.
However, he will have to attempt to race in the Duel qualifying race as per another section of the new rules.
“All vehicles that earned a starting grid position in the Daytona 500 based on final Qualifying Results must compete in their respective 150 mile Qualifying Race and comply with all conditions in the Official Entry Blank and in the NASCAR Rules.”
Of course, Castroneves has nothing to lose in that race now and would be keen to want to mix it up now anyway.
Damaged Vehicle Policy
After years of going back-and-forth with teams over how damaged cars and those with flat tires should be treated under the rule book now that the cars have fundamentally changed, the Damaged Vehicle Policy has been radically amended.
Before, any damaged car that was towed to the garage was immediately eliminated from the race, including cars that were beached with flat tires. Any cars that were unable to be repaired on pit road after seven minutes were also eliminated from the race.
That’s all changed now.
In 2025, cars will be permitted to continue in the race even after repairs are made in the garage. There will still be a seven-minute time limit for cars undergoing repairs on pit road but the expiration of that clock will just send cars behind the wall to the pit area as opposed to out of the race.
Teams will be penalized if a car leaves its pit box to rejoin the race and the DVP clock expires before it reaches pit exit.
As for cars with flat tires or damage that prevents them from driving away from the scene of the incident, they will be towed to the garage area for repairs but will not be eliminated from the race. Once repairs are made, they can return to competition.
New waiver penalty
Remember all the fuss concerning Kyle Larson missing the Coca-Cola 600 to remain in Indianapolis to run the rain-delayed Indianapolis 500?
NASCAR deliberated over a week over whether to strip Larson of his playoff eligibility but ultimately chose to grant the waiver. Now, there is a rule that can enact significant penalties for a driver that makes a choice like that again.
Now, if NASCAR grants a playoff waiver in a circumstance like that, it will come with significant championship impact. That driver will forfeit any playoff points accumulated in the regular season. Every win, playoff win and championship standings will mean no bonus for seeding.
They will earn playoff points in the playoffs but it will render their results in the regular season moot beyond having made the playoffs.
Playoff points would not be forfeited in the event of a medical absence, missing a race for the birth of a child or a family emergency, or if age restrictions prevent a driver from racing a full season.
That also means if a driver gets suspended for a behavioral issue, and that driver gets a waiver, that driver will forfeit all of their regular season playoff points as well.
NASCAR has also stated in the rules update that all appeal decisions are final and will not be subject to appeal.
Race Manipulation
In the aftermath of the penultimate race of the season, one in which NASCAR determine that Chevrolet manipulated the outcome of the race to get William Byron into the final four by strategically forming a blockade of cars around him so he couldn’t lose spots, now there are penalties that would go after the OEMs.
They didn’t exist before.
Now, race manipulation claims may result in the loss of manufacturer points, a reduction in wind-tunnel testing time or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) test runs.
NASCAR also eliminated wording for the outdated and never applied ‘100 percent rule of performance obligations’ and instead changing it from a reflection on competitors who ‘artificially alter the finishing positions’ to competitor who ‘manipulate the outcome’ of the event.
That is at NASCAR’s discretion.
Suspension deferral
NASCAR now says all suspensions that are a result of a technical infraction can be deferred without appeal for the next race following the issuance of a penalty. All other suspensions are effective immediately.
Appeals
Teams now have just two business days to file an appeal instead of three.
Penalties apply to team, not crew chiefs
Historically, technical infractions have been applied against the offending team’s crew chiefs but now NASCAR will just cite the offending teams in penalty reports.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
