NASCAR: Changes to pit road speed limit, DVP at Atlanta

NASCAR officials announced Thursday an alteration to its pit-road speed-limit procedures for this weekend’s Xfinity Series and Cup Series events at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

After extending pit entrance to Turn 3 for the spring race in March — a product of Atlanta’s 2022 reconfiguration that resulted in superspeedway-style racing at the 1.54-mile oval — NASCAR is implementing two separate pit-road speed limits under green-flag conditions for this weekend’s races.

During green-flag pit stops, sections 1 and 2 of pit road will be limited at 90 mph, while sections 3 through 18 will be policed at 45 mph. Under caution-flag conditions, pit-road speed will be 45 mph for the full distance of pit road, starting from the white commitment line in Turn 3 to pit exit in Turn 1.

The extended length of pit road saw a steady 45 mph speed limit at all times during the March race weekend, resulting in cars falling laps down during green-flag conditions. NASCAR’s goal in implementing two separate pit road speed limits is to help minimize a team’s chances of falling off the lead lap during such pit cycles.

Additionally, NASCAR will extend its Damaged Vehicle Policy by one minute in each series, which is consistent with the sanctioning body’s approach to the March event. Cup teams will have eight minutes to repair damage to their vehicles and meet minimum speed requirements, up from its standard seven minutes. Xfinity teams will have seven minutes to fix their cars, up from six. NASCAR.com