NASCAR announced a handful of rules changes across its three national series for 2023 on Jan. 31.
Perhaps chief among them: a time penalty for anyone who attempts to pull off a move similar to Ross Chastain’s race-ending, wall-riding move in the NASCAR Cup Series elimination race at Martinsville Speedway last year.
According to NASCAR, a time penalty will be issued to drivers who attempt such a maneuver, which will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
NASCAR did not specify the length of the penalty.
Other changes include the elimination of stage break cautions on road courses in the Cup Series and new rules for violations of lost wheels. In the case of the latter, a pass-through penalty will be given when the tire is confined to pit road under green-flag conditions, while the offending team will start from the rear of the field if under yellow.
A two-lap penalty, plus a two-race suspension for offending crew members, will be given if the tire leaves pit road.
Elsewhere, wet-weather protocols and equipment similar to those utilized on road courses have been expanded to include multiple track 1 mile or less in length, including the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Martinsville Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Phoenix Raceway, the Milwaukee Mile and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The top-30 or top-20 rule for playoff eligibility was also done away with, with any driver eligible for the playoffs in any series if they earn a win, as long as they run the full schedule or are given a waiver.
Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.
At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
watching a race in the rain on tv can be enjoyable. Watching it in person sucks. Adding more tracks to the wet weather protocols is a bad idea, in my opinion.
the rest of this, I am ok with. :)
I agree with you on the rain. I hope this only applies when the rain has all but stopped and is done for the day (but you know NASCAR….).
I really do like the loss of stage breaks for the road courses. That makes so much sense I can’t wait to see how NASCAR screws it up. At least they will have to make strategy decisions on the fly as the race unfolds.
This reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw a long time ago:
I may be slow but I get there eventually
They are not there yet!
Thank goodness for the Chastain rule..tires at least a little better than last year’s ridiculousness, and they almost got it right on the stage breaks: Here NASCAR, fixed it for you: elimination of all stage break cautions.
I’d settle for not counting laps during the stage break yellows.