NASCAR changed its rules for determining uncontrolled tire penalties on Wednesday afternoon (July 24), effective immediately across all three national series.
There will be no more determination of “an arm’s length away” when it comes to determining what it is or is not an uncontrolled tire, according to Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass.
NASCAR is eliminating the "arm's length" definition when it comes to the uncontrolled tire rule. Teams will be penalized for an uncontrolled tire if they create a safety issue or interfere/impede another competitor’s pit stop. #nascar
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 24, 2019
Officially rule 10.9.10.4.1 – Tires and Wheels/Servicing, there will now be a a grid of eight boxes in each pit box, with the two on the near inside (wall side) of the car being the only two that are safe for tires to be in. Tires in any of the six other boxes will result in a penalty.
Here is the graphic used to determine which areas a tire can roll … pic.twitter.com/qrEeYY9LTm
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 24, 2019
Also, any crew member interfering with another team’s pit stop will be subject to a penalty.
“This is something we’ve been looking at for some time over the last year or two,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR vp of officiating and technical inspection, said. “The evolution of the pit stop has changed over time. There was a time when we needed to officiate that call based on an arm’s length.
“We have reviewed that numerous times and looked at it and feel like, in coordination with working with the teams, the timing is right to go ahead and remove that part of the rule from the rule book. We will continue to officiate uncontrolled tires. They still have to be controlled from the outside half of the pit box to the inside half.”
On four-tire pit stops, the outside tires must be changed first, in an effort to reduce the frequency of pit crew members being run over by other drivers leaving pit road.
“We felt like that going forward starting at Watkins Glen [International], for all four-tire stops you’d have to change the outside tires first,” Sawyer said.
If teams change the inside tires first on pit road, they will have to go to the tail end of the longest line if it happened under yellow or serve a pass-through penalty if it happened under green.