zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
NASCAR Drivers Are Still Gaming the Qualifying System
NASCAR Drivers Are Still Gaming the Qualifying System-September 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:10

Sports are often about doing whatever to get ahead, without getting penalized or disqualified. But that’s caused a mess in lately, since drivers have turned qualifying into a glorified game of “not it” by sitting on pit road as long as possible and strategically clogging each other up once someone does move.

That led NASCAR to its second to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying in less than a month on Thursday, which will shorten the first two of its group-qualifying elimination rounds at Richmond Raceway this weekend from 10 minutes to five. The third and last session is already set at five minutes in the rules, and will stay the same.

NASCAR said this change will only be for the Richmond qualifying session on Friday—for now, at least. From the announcement:

The first round will see all cars go out in group style for a lap or laps with the top 24 moving to Round 2. The top 12 from Round 2 move to the final round, which is also five minutes in length.

This is not a permanent change to qualifying, as discussions are continuing to take place regarding the qualifying format for NASCAR’s top series. The format for NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying at Richmond is unchanged.

The Cup Series uses group elimination qualifying at most tracks now, since NASCAR switched to that from single-car runs for more entertainment.

It hasn’t worked well in the Cup Series this year, though—new aerodynamics rules disadvantage the driver who leads the qualifying pack, especially at larger tracks, meaning drivers have spent the year clogging up pit road and inching forward in a race to not be first. It’s happening at shorter, mile-long tracks like Richmond, too, as shown by the in March.

in California in March, when drivers sat in clusters at the end of pit road. None of the top 12 cars even made a run in the final session, forcing NASCAR in order to decide the starting order. NASCAR soon after.

The ordeal made for an extremely NASCAR-esque qualifying session, given that this is a sport where race teams —no matter how silly or how much cheating it might involve. But wasn’t great for a lot of viewers, since it was almost like a heat of runners purposely crawling the 100-meter dash.

Here’s some footage from the session, for reference:

The rules tweaks seemed like they would work, since NASCAR said it would have a staging area for drivers who don’t immediately go out for a lap, and that once drivers leave the staging area, they can’t block anyone and have to proceed to the track. Drivers, instead, found a way around those rules: ducking in and out of the two staging lines on pit road, trying to trick others into going out on track—all without blocking the middle lane, as instructed.

A by Ryan Newman can be seen at about 2:30 in this video, and it with the driver he blocked.

It’s hard to say whether shortening the first two sessions at Richmond will make much of a difference when it comes to clogging pit road and waiting for someone to go, but it’ll at least cut waiting periods in half. With more cars in the first two sessions—around 40 in the first and 24 in the second—it’ll also likely make it logistically harder to wait.

But given that it’ll only be in effect for Richmond and that NASCAR bosses they’re working on a fix for the problem, cutting session times sounds like more of a short-term fix than anything.

No qualifying system NASCAR can come up with is immune to gaming, though, since gaming the system is what NASCAR teams do best.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Hamilton, Leclerc DQ'd From U.S. Grand Prix, American Driver Scores First F1 Points In 30 Years
Hamilton, Leclerc DQ'd From U.S. Grand Prix, American Driver Scores First F1 Points In 30 Years
It’s Monday, October 23, 2023 and this is Racing Recap, your summary of last weekend’s motorsports action. became the first American in 30 years to score points in Formula 1 after two front-runners were disqualified from the United States Grand Prix. ran out of time to catch Christopher Bell...
Sep 15, 2026
Seeing Young Girls Get Excited About F1 Academy Was An Unexpected Highlight Of The U.S. Grand Prix
Seeing Young Girls Get Excited About F1 Academy Was An Unexpected Highlight Of The U.S. Grand Prix
The presence of is still a rarity, but new series like are designed to help bridge the gap and lift young women from the grassroots to an international open-wheel series — and at during the , I got to witness firsthand just how important that kind of representation can...
Sep 15, 2026
Here's Everything We Know About The Andretti Cadillac F1 Bid
Here's Everything We Know About The Andretti Cadillac F1 Bid
Son of the most recent American Formula 1 champion, 1991 CART champion, and Michael Andretti has been making a case for his team to join the Formula 1 grid for the last 18 months with backing from the fifth-largest automaker in the world. Earlier this month the newly-renamed Andretti...
Sep 15, 2026
Sustainable Racing Is 'The Way Forward’ For Young Drivers
Sustainable Racing Is 'The Way Forward’ For Young Drivers
Motorsport has . Excessive , excessive fuel burned over the course of a race weekend and even an excessive amount of . Now, there’s a wave of young drivers rising through the ranks that are less interested in all that and are instead on the lookout for series that...
Sep 15, 2026
Formula 1 Races Feel 'Like A Sound Stage' To Local Fans
Formula 1 Races Feel 'Like A Sound Stage' To Local Fans
has never been this . Last weekend 432,000 fans filled the for the 2023 , which would have been unthinkable not long ago. There’s just one problem: F1 doesn’t seem to care much about connecting with its American audience. The American races don’t feel like a part of the American...
Sep 15, 2026
The Simple Plank That Got Hamilton And Leclerc Disqualified Is One Of F1s Best Safety Devices
The Simple Plank That Got Hamilton And Leclerc Disqualified Is One Of F1s Best Safety Devices
and Charles Leclerc were Sunday after their cars failed post-race inspection. What was the infraction? The floor-mounted planks on both their cars were worn too thin. It seems ridiculous to throw out a driver over a board three-eighths of an inch thick, but the simple device is one of...
Sep 15, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved