Pit stops in the NASCAR Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck series will follow new guidelines in the 2020 season, according to a statement released by NASCAR on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The rules specify that teams will not have specifically assigned pit crew members, only that each team has eight members who will perform over-the-wall service: four for basic service such as changing tires and jacking up the car, one to refuel the car and another to assist the driver.
Additionally, full-cycle caution stops at oval tracks will only allow the teams to refuel the car and change two tires, requiring the team to pit twice for four-tire changes.
For road courses, teams can either refuel their machine or change four tires, forcing those who need to do both to make a second trip down pit road. The same rules apply to short caution periods, but each team can only pit once during that time.
Pitting under caution will also be timed from entrance to exit of pit road, and restart order will be determined by whether or not a team stopped.
Teams that violate pit stop restrictions will be hit with a two-lap penalty.
According to NASCAR, the changes aim to increase the importance of pit strategy and streamline the crews performing the stops. Additionally, these rules limit what the crews can do during each stop.
“We really feel like this… is kind of a unique opportunity we have with those events to try something new in the Gander Truck Series and the Xfinity Series that we hope will provide some increased incentive for teams to make differing strategy calls,” Xfinity Series technical manager Eric Peterson said in a NASCAR release.
Peterson also said the changes will switch up the field more and create more passing.
These alterations apply to four Xfinity races and three Truck events, all exclusive from NASCAR Cup Series weekends. For the Xfinity Series, these rules will be in effect for the races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Road America and both weekends at Iowa Speedway.
As for NASCAR’s truck division, the changes apply to the events at Iowa Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and the playoff race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Peterson also said efficiency was a key factor in the decision, rather than the teams relying on Cup crew members.
“A lot of the teams — a good portion, not all of them — do utilize sharing pit crew personnel between Cup and Xfinity and Gander Trucks that it is a logistical hurdle for the teams to fly those individuals back and forth,” he said. “Trying this procedure at these events certainly alleviates a lot of that burden on the teams to make that happen.”
Peterson said that this is a trial period and there are currently no plans to use the system next year or beyond that point.
About the author
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of VCU, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and also hosts the "Adam Cheek's Sports Week" podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.
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WTF is this mess??? Did they just legalize weed in FL, cause the star chamber at NASCAR is flying high!
I thought the same thing. It’s like the people in charge made a bet as to who could come up with the most ridiculous pit rules. At least they don’t have to worry about attendance or ratings in those series since no one is showing up at the track or watching on TV. Maybe they figured it be like a tree falling in the forest with no one there to hear it.
I had to check the calendar to see if it was April 1. This is just dumb.
Replying to myself, lol… If they want to increase the amount of time every team spends on pit road, they could take other steps that would be more entertaining. For example: 1) Take away the hydraulic jacks and make them use the OEM supplied screw jack that comes with the model sold in showrooms. 2) Take away the air guns and make them use a 4-way lug wrench (I’m not cruel enough to make them use the factory supplied one). 3) No more gas cans. Put a regular Sunoco pump at every stall. Make sure every pump is finicky and extremely sensitive on the overflow detection shut of so it constantly clicks off just as fuel flow starts – just like at the corner station!
Makes about as much sense as what NASCAR came up with.
In a call back to the very old days, how about, each driver has to get out of the car, eat a sandwich, drink a beer and smoke a cigarette while the one man pit crew changes all four tires and fuels the car (using your prescribed method). LOL
I thought Rube Goldberg was dead and buried but apparently he is alive and well and employed by NASCAR.
HA! Sandwich/Beer/Smoke break! Could bring some sponsors back to NASCAR! :-)
Harvick when interviewed during pit stop: “Yeah, the Busch Beer, Marlboro, Jimmy Johns Ford is fast today. Once I finish this cig and chug the rest of my beer, I’ll be *BUUURRRPPPP!!* back out there hammer down until the checkered flag!”
The latest entrant into NASCAR’s continued quest for solutions in search of problems.
More chances for those head scratcher NASCAR penalties…
The restarts won’t be any faster. The commercials will just be longer. LOL I can’t believe someone who was ever involved in any competitive event made this up. Armchair entertainment execs, not sports fans.
Gawd I hope they don’t eff up ARCA…
It just isn’t fair that the really fast drivers with the really fast cars and the really fast teams get the fast pit crews too.
More socialism from from NASCAR, equalize the mediocrity. Make everyone as bad as the slowest team.