The Record (Troy, NY)

Expect these tweaks to qualifying in 2024

CONCORD, N.C. — Qualifying procedures for the Cup Series will receive an adjustment in 2024, officials revealed at the sanctionin­g body’s Research & Developmen­t Center.

Each race’s 36-plus entrants will continue to be split into two groups for time-trial qualificat­ion, with the fastest five drivers from each group advancing to the pole round and setting the top 10 starting positions for the main event. That hasn’t changed. What will change is the manner in which positions 11-40 are determined.

Previously, the cars that finished outside the top five in the two groups were seeded 11-40 based on their fastest qualifying lap, regardless of which group the drivers were in.

Beginning in 2024 – and with the exception of the Daytona 500, which has its own unique qualifying procedure – cars that do not advance from Group A will determine the outside row for starting positions 11-40, while the remaining cars from Group B will determine the inside row.

For superspeed­ways, there will be no groups during qualifying procedures. There will be two rounds, with the fastest 10 drivers advancing from the first round and the best time from Round 2 taking the pole.

Officials landed upon this alteration after feedback from the industry. Because track conditions can change throughout the course of a qualifying session, the goal of defining what row a driver may start from is to limit those possible variances.

Group assignment­s will continue to be determined by performanc­e metrics, a total number based on the previous event: 15% of a fastest lap time position, 25% of the driver’s final race finish position, 25% of the owner’s final race finish position and 35% of the owner points position, according to the NASCAR Rule Book. Any vehicles entered with a different driver for the event than the previous race, per the rule book, will have its driver-based numbers (fastest lap and finish position) set at 41. Driver metrics are not transferab­le to another vehicle.

Other news and notes discussed at the competitio­n briefing:

• Next Gen towing will have its first major overhaul in Cup Series qualifying beginning in 2024. Officials have worked with teams and drivers to determine solutions to assist a vehicle stranded with flat tires back to pit road without destroying the underbody of the machine, a particular­ly sensitive and expensive piece of the vehicle. If a car spins in qualifying and the driver is unable to drive the car back to pit road, a tow truck with a dolly will be sent to retrieve the vehicle and lift it off the ground. Through testing, officials determined they are able to tow the car at speeds up to 70 mph.

For now, towing will remain limited to qualifying and not the race. Qualifying allows more time for the safety crew to retrieve the vehicle while this process is in its early phase, while attempting this during a race may extend a caution period longer than what fans and officials would prefer.

• Wet-weather tires will return to all road courses and most ovals 1 mile in length or shorter in 2024, with the exception of the high-banked concrete tracks of Bristol Motor Speedway and Dover Motor Speedway. This year, the only requiremen­ts on those vehicles at ovals will be a defogger. Lights, wiper blades and rear flaps will be additional­ly required at all road courses, but none will be mandated at short ovals.

• Less grass is in Daytona Internatio­nal Speedway’s future. A portion of grass has already been removed and replaced with fresh pavement, all following Ryan Preece’s tumble down the superstret­ch in the August 2023 NASCAR Cup Series contest. In reviewing the aftermath of Preece’s crash, including a reconstruc­tion of the incident, officials determined the grass indeed had a negative impact on the car, both creating lift and grabbing the vehicle as it rolled upside down against the lawn. After the 2024 Daytona 500, the remaining stretch on the backstretc­h will be paved to the middle of Turn 3.

The rumble strips in place for IMSA’s Rolex 24 at Daytona will be removed, set to be replaced by concrete pads where variable rumble strips may be put into place for road racing but removed for oval events.

• Using data collected from drivers’ mouthguard­s after the 2023 contest at Watkins Glen, the sanctionin­g body has determined to remove the steep curbing through the bus-stop chicane at the 2.45mile road course. Curb-hopping triggered notable spikes in forces the drivers underwent each time they raced through the inner loop. Like Daytona, those curbs will be removed and replaced with contact pads. Different temporary strips will be tested during a Goodyear tire test at the facility on June 26-27.

Recessed rumble strips will also be implemente­d in the run-off section of Turn 1, an addition made in effort to limit drivers’ use of the extra pavement on driver-left of the 90-degree right-handed turn.

• Cup Series teams will be permitted to have lighted, LED signage attached to their pit boxes, providing another showcase spot for sponsorshi­p placement.

• Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series pit crews will move to a smaller fuel can this season, dropping the capacity from 11 gallons to nine. With the reduction in weight – approximat­ely 15-16 pounds – teams would be able to have a less specialize­d athlete to fuel the vehicles.

• No changes are expected to inspection process or the penalty deterrence model for 2024. the and