CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR has made a change to the turtles at the Charlotte Roval ahead of Sunday afternoon's playoff race.
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The track crews have removed the 4-inch blue turtles at the entrance of the frontstretch chicane (Turn 16) and replaced them with 2.25-inch versions. There will be no changes to the rule regarding missing the chicane. Drivers will still have to serve a stop-and-go penalty at one of the assigned locations.
This change follows multiple drivers making comments about the hard landings while navigating the course in practice and qualifying.
"It feels like you get a concussion every lap, basically, if you hit them," Martin Truex Jr. said. "So yeah, not much fun.
"...It just hurts when you hit those turtles and the car bottoms out when it lands. It's just... it's pretty crazy."
Kyle Busch said that drivers had the choice of hitting the turtles and taking the hard hits or missing them and missing the exit of the chicane.
According to an update from NASCAR, there are two potential penalties for violating the track limits in the chicanes — one for the majority of the race and another for the last lap.
There will be a track limits rule with the turtle change. Michael McDowell's team is currently measuring to determine where to put the tires each lap. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/9w898O1ncz
— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) October 13, 2024
The drivers who are judged as missing or shortcutting any of the turns will have to serve a stop-and-go penalty on the lap the penalty is assessed. If the driver misses the designated stop-and-go areas, they may have to serve a pass-through penalty.
If there are not enough laps remaining in the race, NASCAR will issue a post-race penalty of 30 seconds to the offending driver instead of a pass-through or a stop-and-go.
"You will be judged as missing or shortcutting any turn previously describe when all four tires are on the non-track side of the red and white rumble strips that define the apex of the turns," NASCAR said in a statement.
The track limits rule is one that NASCAR has enforced in previous road course races. It particularly became part of the story during the spring Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
AJ Allmendinger received a track limits penalty late in the race, one that took him out of contention for the win. Teammate Shane van Gisbergen then received the same penalty after the race. This dropped him from a runner-up finish to 27th.
This rule will now potentially play a role in determining whether some playoff drivers move on to the Round of 8 or fail to advance.
