Beginning in 2019, two less cars will start each NASCAR XFINITY Series as competition officials revealed on Thursday the decrease in the starting lineup to 38 from 40.
NASCAR’s Vice President of Racing Operations, John Bobo, also announced the Dash 4 Cash program will remain the same, enforcing the same Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver restrictions, and keeping the four races the same.
“I think the main reason we’re making these changes is for a stronger field with greater competition,” said Bobo. “We want to provide the best racing in the world for our fans and we have to monitor and make changes when needed. I think one of the great things that we did in looking at these changes is we worked really collaboratively with the teams, the drivers and the tracks to really just provide the strongest race product from all sides of the garage.”
Beginning in 2019, the XFINITY field will see the first 33 fastest drivers in qualifying make the races on speed, while positions 34-through-37 will get a spot based on owner’s points with one remaining position for a past champion’s provisional.
In addition, NASCAR announced a tweak to the way the owner’s championship will be decided in next year’s newly named NASCAR Gander Mountain Truck Series and XFINITY Series.
According to NASCAR’s release, owners in the series will only earn playoff points or playoff berths from wins “if the driver earns championship points in their respective series.”
