A heap of items, mostly from
Bob Pockrass' X feed and mostly from today's competition briefing):
NASCAR tweaks (and possibly for the superspeedways, significantly changes) Cup qualifying
A lot like one's assignment to the Daytona Duel group determines which row one (potentially) starts the Daytona 500, one's assignment to a practice group will determine the starting row for those who get knocked out of top-10 qualifying at
, depending on the source, the other 35 points races (NASCAR.com's initial story, which would represent a major change at Atlanta, Talladega and the summer Daytona race as there was no practice/qualifying group at those races) or the non-superspeedway races (Bob Pockrass/
FoxSports.com story,
with the NASCAR.com story clarifying this doesn't apply to the superspeedways, where there will continue to be no practice). Oddly, Group A will set the outside row starting with 12th, while Group B will set the inside row starting with 11th. No word what happens with an odd number of cars, because the performance metric isn't changing.
Kaz Grala to attempt the Daytona 500 in an open Front Row Motorsports #36
The FRM release says that the effort will be an open effort. Pockrass notes that makes 5 announced open teams (2 Fords, including a RFK #60, and 3 Chevys - Legacy #84, Beard #62 and Live Fast #78, with Chevy-affiliated NY Racing also looking at attempting), meaning that, unless one of them partners with Rick Ware Racing (doubtful as RFK just broke its alliance with RWR), somebody is going home after the Duels.
RWR still needs a driver for the Daytona 500
With Cody Ware not coming back until April at the earliest,
oft-used JJ Yeley not returning to RWR, and Grala running the Daytona 500 for FRM, the chartered #15 still needs a driver, or at least a partnership, for the Daytona 500. I wonder if NASCAR is regretting not reposessing the charter used by the 51 team last year and the 15 team the 2 years prior.
Chicago to get another $2 million out of NASCAR for the 2024 street race, nearly doubling its take
The full story, including news of a lessened impact on city life, is behind a Chicago Tribune paywall, but Pockrass noted that somewhere north of $2.5 million went to the city in fees/amusement taxes last year, with that amount going to nearly $5 million in 2024, and that NASCAR paid various community groups $1.7 million last year.
Xfinity, Trucks go to 9-gallon gas can, will have competitive stops at all races
Previously, the two support series used 11-gallon gas cans (I presume they, like the Cup series, had gone to smaller tanks in the cars), and at races where they weren't supporting the Cup series, tire-change pit stops were limited to caution periods, with the field frozen and cars that pit (and not lingering too long) restarting in the order they came into the pits, grouped by pit strategy.
Battery-electric vehicle testing at Martinsville completed, will debut at The Clash
David Ragan drove a non-manufacturer-specific compact utility-bodied vehicle...with lights...340 laps over 3 days, getting to within spitting distance of a Cup car the last day. NASCAR is also looking at a hydrogen combustion vehicle.
Kickin' the Tires freshly reports that car will debut at The Clash, and that NASCAR is looking at both a hydrogen fuel cell (electric) and a hydrogen internal combuston engine.
Xfinity teams to have limits on backup cars
Also from the NASCAR.com story linked above, Xfinity teams, except when qualifying and race start is less than 2 hours apart or on multi-week West Coast swings, will be limited to 1 fully-prepared backup car for 1-2 car teams and 2 backup cars (1 fully prepared, and only 1 engine between the two cars) for 3+-car teams. Also, the backup cars will not be wrapped, with a solid color designated by each team before the start of the season and decals added if the backup is used.
speedcafe.com
