Qualifying procedures for the NASCAR Cup Series are set to see changes for the upcoming season.
Officials from NASCAR’s Research & Development Center revealed Tuesday that there is a change coming to the way positions 11-40 are determined.
While the field will continue to be split in two groups, drivers who do not advance to the final round of qualifying will be placed in order according to their group and position during the first round.
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.
There will not be group qualifying on superspeedways. Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway will see two rounds with the fastest 10 drivers advancing from the first round and the best time from the second round taking the pole position.
The season opening Daytona 500 is also an exception, as single-car qualifying sets the front row with two dual races determining the rest of the running order.
Officials decided to make a change after feedback from the industry. Because track conditions can change throughout the course of qualifying, the goal of defining what row a driver may start from is to limit those possible variances.