On Wednesday, NASCAR Executive Vice-President and Chief Racing Development Officer, Steve O’Donnell, announced standardized at-track rosters for teams competing in all three national touring series.
The new structure will control the number of team members permitted at the track during each event. The most notable difference for fans will be the reduction of over the wall crew members from six to five. Teams will need to redesign the over the wall plan to compensate for the fewer number of crew. One major constraint set by the new rule will prohibit the gas man from making chassis adjustments in an effort to increase safety.
O’Donnell cited the desire for better competition and increased parity as the primary driver for the change. “As much as we can possibly level the playing field and introduce new winners, that’s really the goal and what we want for the fans,” O’Donnell said. “And so if you look at these initiatives with the over-the-wall crew going to five members, that fits into our overall structure from a roster standpoint. We feel like that again puts the focus on the athletes and also continues down that line of putting the focus on the teams and opening it up to as many teams as possible to continue to win races and therefore put a better product out there for the fans.”
The new standardized restriction will be categorized into three groups and structured as follows:
Organizational: Examples include competition director, team managers, technical director, IT specialists. In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, teams will be allotted three organizational roster spots for one- and two-car operations, and four spots for three- and four-car outfits. XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series teams will be allowed one organizational roster spot each.
Road Crew: Examples include crew chief, car chief, mechanics, engine tuners, engineers, specialists (for areas such as tires, aerodynamics and shocks) and spotters. The limits for these personnel by series: Monster Energy Series, 12; XFINITY, 7; Camping World Trucks, 6.
Pit Crew: This designation refers solely to team members who perform over-the-wall service during pit stops. The maximum is five for all three series.
