NASCAR has made yet another change to its race weekend qualifying procedure and the format will debut immediately this weekend at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Okay, so there will continue to be two rounds, with the five fastest drivers from Group A and Group B advancing into the pole shootout. The driver who posts the fastest qualifying lap will also still be the pole earner.
But the second fastest driver in the final round may not necessarily start the race from the outside pole. Instead, the fastest driver who advanced from the opposite group will start on the front row opposite the pole winner.
In other words, if the pole winner is from Group A and the second fastest qualifier is also from Group A, the second fastest Group A driver will start on the second row and the fastest qualifier who advanced from Group B will earn the opposite front row honors.
The top-five from each Group go out by order of first round speed, Group A and then Group B.
After the front row is set, Group A drivers will be assigned starting positions 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and Group B will be assigned starting positions 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th.
Positions 11-40 remain unchanged in that the cars that do not advance from Group A will be sorted into place on the outside rows only. In other words, they will be starting positions 12, 14, 16, etc. Those who do not advance from Group B will be sorted into place on the inside rows only. In other words, they will be starting positions 13, 15, 17, etc.
If the final round of qualifying is not completed due to weather or other circumstances, speeds from the first round will be used to set the top-10 with the fastest driver from Group A and B respectively earning the front row.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
