CONCORD, N.C. – The long-rumored changes to cars or trucks involved in accidents during a NASCAR race came to fruition Wednesday morning when the sanctioning body announced a new damaged vehicle policy that goes into effect later this month at Daytona International Speedway.
Implemented in all three of NASCAR’s national series, drivers and team cannot take their vehicles to the garage for repairs in the hopes of later returning the race.
Severely damaged cars that need extensive repairs in the garage will be immediately retired from the event.
However, teams will be put on a five-minute clock should they choose to come to pit road and attempt to fix their repairs in their respective pit stalls. If the repairs are made in five minutes or less, and a driver maintains minimum speed, the repair clock will be reset with the driver being allowed to remain in the race.
“We have a lot of cars that are going back on the track that end up in 38th position, for instance, that probably don’t need to be out there from a safety and competition aspect,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller told NASCAR.com.
The clock starts when the car crosses the yellow line at the entrance of pit road and ends when the car crosses the yellow line at pit road exit, the same lines that are utilized to determine whether a driver is speeding on pit road.
Should a driver speed on pit road during their repair clock process, the driver is subject to a 15-second penalty added to the five-minute clock. The same penalty applies for a commitment cone violation.
“I’ve been involved in crash repairs, and that’s not a great situation down there in the garage with 20 people running around, oil leaking on the floor, things catching on fire and sharp metal being cut off,” Miller added.
“It’s a fairly unsafe situation. And at times it would be unsafe really for the driver to get back in a car that was damaged that heavily. There’s nothing that doesn’t come with some downside, but I think there is a lot of upside to where we are going with this.”
Pit road repairs will be as follows:
• Body repairs are limited to the removal or reattachment of original body parts with fasteners and tape.
• Rods / supports may be used to reinforce original parts
• New or previously unused body panels are prohibited
• Series directors will provide teams with a list of items that are required for competition, such as rear bumper covers, tail extensions, etc.
Under the new rule and unlike year’s past, teams will not be allowed to send more than the allowed number of crew members over the wall to assist in repairs. If a team is caught, the car will be removed from the race.
NASCAR said an exception to the new policy is a car that needs repaired because of a mechanical or electrical failure. The team may go to the garage and return to the race (as in the past) if the failure was not the result of an accident without any time.
With the change spawning mostly positive reviews, the new rule essentially eliminates teams thrashing in the garage with the intentions of returning a driver to the race as quickly as possible.
Replacing parts and pieces such as deck lids, hoods and sheet metal are now prohibited. All cars must have their original components removed or reattached with fasteners or tape.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
