(Photo Credit: Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images)
Qualifying and race eligibility will have a slight twist beginning this weekend after some procedure changes by NASCAR.
Beginning with this weekend’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the current season’s owner points will replace practice speeds for setting the field and determining race eligibility if there is conditions, such as rain, preventing qualifying from taking place.
To help make the field fair once the Chase for the Sprint Cup starts, if an Open team earns a Chase birth, they will be warded a provisional starting position for every Chase race.
“These changes provide a more even competition field for both Charter and Open teams, rewarding strong performances over the course of a season,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president, racing operations. “Earning a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is extremely difficult and requires consistent elite performance. Those teams should be guaranteed an opportunity to race for the title, and this ensures that will be the case.”
NASCAR additionally announced for 2017, practice speeds for Open teams will remain the criteria used to determine race eligibility for the second and third races.
