The 2024 NASCAR season is getting closer, and the sport has some changes for the new season.
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NASCAR has plenty of new rules it is implementing for 2024, but one of the biggest changes will be how the starting lineups will be determined for the races.
According to Jim Utter from Motorsport.com, NASCAR held a competition briefing this week at the Race & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, where it unveiled tweaks to the Cup Series qualifying procedures.
The changes for qualifying will affect all races except those at the superspeedways, as group qualifying isn't used for that type of racing.
At all the other tracks, entries will still be split into two groups for qualifying. The fastest five drivers from each group will then advance to the final round, and those 10 drivers will run for the Pole.
As for positions 11-40, the drivers that don't make the top 10 in qualifying from Group A will make up the outside row, while the Group B drivers will determine the inside row for the line-up.
This is a huge difference from 2023, as the cars that didn't reach the final qualifying round would be lined up based on their fastest qualifying time no matter which group they ran in.
Cup Series managing director Brad Moran, told motorsport.com that the change comes after chatting with the teams and drivers to remove the chances of drivers having an advantage in a particular group in regards to the track conditions.
Those aren't the only changes for the new season, as NASCAR will continue to use mufflers at the Clash at the Coliseum Race and the Chicago street race.
It was also noted that Daytona will do more paving work in the backstretch area, where Ryan Preece's horrifying crash from last season took place.
One of the final new changes involves the pit box. According to Matt Weaver from Sportsnaut, Cup teams will be allowed to have LED boards on their pit box signs to give them another opportunity to showcase their sponsors.
With the opening of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season less than two weeks away, it's good to see the sanctioning body making small tweaks to improve competition and safety for its competitors, add another avenue for teams to increase sponsorship dollars and provide better comfort for its fans.
