NASCAR rectifies qualifying snafu

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NASCAR issued a memo to Monster Energy Cup Series teams on Monday that confirmed the sanctioning body’s commitment to group qualifying but not without crafting harsher penalties for drivers that do not make a timed lap before time expired in any given round.

Starting at Texas, any driver that does not take a lap in any of the qualifying rounds will have all previously posted times in the session disallowed – which means instead of falling back on the previous round’s time, that driver would start the race from the back. Additionally, any driver who blocks pit road — at the judgment of NASCAR – in a way that prohibits other drivers from exiting pit road will incur a penalty, such as disallowing that team’s posted qualifying speed and/or disqualifying that car from additional qualifying rounds.

“The inherent problem (at Auto Club) was obviously everybody waiting to the end, and it being unorderly on the end of pit road with people blocking and playing all kinds of games," NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller told NASCAR.com. “So really, we want to retake control and make order out of pit road and the way that drivers leave.

“We want to allow every competitor the chance to leave pit road when they want to leave and not be at the mercy of somebody else."

Starting at Texas, vehicles not immediately making a qualifying attempt will be staged in a track-specific area designated by NASCAR. Once a vehicle leaves the area, it must continue directly onto the race track — it cannot stop at the end of pit road and wait in a gamesmanship play.

The structure of group qualifying will not change — meaning the first of three rounds is 10 minutes, the second round is five minutes and the third and final round is five minutes.

Miller said NASCAR reached this update in collaboration with teams and others in the industry, and there were a few options considered.

One that was not: A return to single-car qualifying at short tracks and intermediates.

“One of the things we wanted to hold true to is not to go back to single-car qualifying," Miller said. “Single-car qualifying is two things – it’s boring and it’s expensive. It also doesn’t create a good show.

“Anytime we go on the track it should be a show. Certainly, we are in, first and foremost, the racing business. But we’re also in show business. We definitely have to provide our fans with something that’s intriguing to watch and gets them excited about coming back and watching the race."