DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR officials have made a change to the qualifying rules ahead of Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Richmond Raceway.
Qualifying will still be run in the group style, but each of the three rounds will last five minutes. Previously the first round of qualifying lasted 10 minutes, the second round lasted 10 minutes and the final round lasted five minutes.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will continue to utilize the same qualifying format of 10 minutes, 10 minutes and five minutes this weekend at Richmond Raceway.
The change to qualifying is not permanent as NASCAR officials continue to discuss potential changes to the qualifying format in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
The discussions stem from multiple issues that have arose this year during Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, including at Auto Club Speedway in March where no one posted a time in the final round of qualifying.