DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Several of the standalone races for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series got a hefty shakeup on Tuesday afternoon.
NASCAR competition officials revealed that seven races – four in the Xfinity Series and three in the Truck Series – will feature new pit stop rules and procedures this season, designed with cost-cutting and competition measures in mind.
The races in question are the Xfinity Series stops at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on May 30, Iowa Speedway on June 13 and Aug. 1, and Road America on Aug. 8, while the affected Truck Series races are Iowa on June 12, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Aug. 21 and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sept. 6.
Notable about all seven dates is that they are all standalone races where the NASCAR Cup Series does not compete.
The new procedures are as follows:
– The field will be immediately frozen when the caution flag is displayed, whether via the end of a stage or natural means. Stage breaks will feature a full pit cycle, giving two opportunities to come down pit road for service. Many non-stage breaks will also feature two chances to pit, but in those cases, there is also the option of a “quickie yellow.”
– In a quickie-yellow scenario, only one opportunity will be given for pit service, with the whole field given the option to come down pit road together at that time.
– Team rosters for the seven events with the new procedures will be comprised of eight total crew members, with the pit crew – four service members, one fueler and one driver assistant – required to come from the eight-man at-track total.
– Pit stops under the new regulations must be completed within a designated time period, the length of which will vary by track and is still being discussed by NASCAR and the teams.
– On oval tracks, teams will be permitted to add fuel and change two tires per pit stop, while on road courses teams can add fuel or change four tires on a pit stop, but not both on the same round of service.
– However, cars involved in an accident will be allowed to change four tires at once to avoid potential damage to the vehicle.
– A driver will restart at the tail of the field if the pit road time limit is exceeded, or if he or she pits on a lap other than the designated lap(s) set aside for pit service.
– A two-lap penalty will be enforced if a team changes four tires and adds fuel on any one pit stop, changes tires under green without approval from NASCAR for damage or other issues, or changes four tires on any pit stop at an oval-track event.
– Restarts following these pit-stop periods will see cars that did not pit for service at the head of the pack, followed by cars that pitted once and then cars that pitted twice, lined up relative to their group in the order that they were running when the yellow was displayed.
– The free-pass recipient, wave around cars and penalized cars will make up the remainder of the field behind those on the lead lap.
NASCAR competition officials hope that the new rules for the seven standalone events will smooth out logistics for Xfinity and Truck Series teams that normally use NASCAR Cup Series pit crews by not requiring a specialized pit squadron for those events.
“We really feel like this new pit stop procedure for the standalone Gander Truck Series and Xfinity Series races is kind of a unique opportunity to try something new that we hope will provide some increased incentive for teams to make differing strategy calls,” said Xfinity Series technical manager Eric Peterson. “It will help mix up the event, provide more comers and goers and on-track passing during the race.
“The only way to really get a view of this is to do it,” Peterson continued, “and we felt like taking a deliberate approach and doing it at the standalone events would be an excellent way to test it out, analyze the results when we get done and see where we go.”
The June 5 Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway will not feature the procedural adjustments due to fuel mileage scenarios, while the July 30 dirt-track race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio has its own separate pit stop procedure already in place.