NASCAR announced new tire rules for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams on Wednesday (May 16).
Starting with the Coca-Cola 600, teams will no longer have to start the race on the tires on which they qualified. Instead, teams will officially be allotted four sets of tires for practice and qualifying for most race weekends, down from five.
The exception to that rule will be the remaining restrictor-plate races, where teams only receive three sets of tires. In exchange, teams will get one more set of tires for the race.
For the plate races and “enhanced weekends,” teams will be allowed to carry their qualifying set over to the race. They will be discarded after qualifying during normal weekends.
Also, there is a small penalty written into the rules for those who fail to set a time during qualifying. Teams who fail to post a time in qualify will have to carry forward a scuffed set of tires from practice to the race.
Given the unique format of qualifying for this weekend’s Monster Energy All-Star Race (which involves a mid-run tire change), the new rules will not be used this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
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