NASCAR considering change to qualifying rules

Steve O'Donnell

Could a tweak to NASCAR qualifying be coming? Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief operating officer, hinted so during his appearance Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "The Morning Drive" show. Last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Denny Hamlin spun with less than a minute left in the final round. That prevented Hamlin and four other drivers from recording a time in the final round. NASCAR's rules state that if more than one driver is unable to complete a lap in a round, their position is determined based on who had the fastest lap in the previous round. Hamlin had the second-fastest lap in the second round. That placed him ahead of the four other drivers who had yet to record a time in the final round even though Hamlin caused the caution. That policy could change.

"It's something we are going to look at," O'Donnell said. "In this case is it the right decision to have a driver, not on purpose, cause a caution and therefore they qualify ahead of … drivers who may have not been able to go out and qualify? Some folks could say that's on them, they should have gone out earlier, but you also look at it if that is the right move. We're taking a hard look at that this weekend. We've had some dialogue with some of the industry and we'll make a decision here shortly." NBC Sports