NASCAR communicated with Cup Series teams this week a clarification on how it will handle the towing policy and DVP clock for the remainder of the season after an emotionally charged day at Talladega Superspeedway.
For the final five races:
- NASCAR will tow cars back to pit road that have one or more flat tires and repairable damage after being involved in an incident. (It is what was seen at Talladega when Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe were towed back to pit road after being in the Big One.)
- If a driver has been in an incident and has significant damage such as a broken radiator or is leaking other fluids, they will be towed to the garage and out of the race.
- If a driver has four inflated tires but cannot drive back to pit road, they will be declared out of the race. The latter is the same rule that has been enforced all season and was most recently seen at Watkins Glen with Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney.
The communication between NASCAR and the crew chiefs came after a 27-car wreck last weekend resulted in confusion and anger over how NASCAR handled the caution. NASCAR explained in the preceding weeks that cars that cannot drive back to pit road would be declared out of the race, with Josh Berry experiencing that a week before Talladega, at Kansas Speedway, after his No. 4 car was involved in a lap one incident and could not drive back on flat tires.
“Appreciated the communication this week, and the move to make things better,” Berry’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, posted on social media about the policy update. “Kansas wasn’t good for any of us. I’m looking forward to more communication over the offseason to make this all better for everyone involved.”
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NASCAR plans to go further into the details of the policy before the 2025 season.
“That’s been a huge topic of discussion, especially after last week and the week prior with Kansas and the [No.] 4 car,” Blaney said. “We had our thing at Watkins Glen. I don’t know – on one side it’s good they sat everybody down and made this rule of, ‘OK, this is what it’s going to be now.’ Do I wish they would have done that sooner like before the playoffs? Yes. Do I wish they would have just left it the same and this is what it is and we’re going to talk about it in the offseason? Yes, as well.
“I do what they tell me. I have no pull in that side of it. I know there was some confusion last week with why [these guys are] getting pushes back when they are clearly damaged, and in the ruling, when they cannot drive back they shouldn’t be pushed back. I think that was the biggest thing. … It’s odd timing and unfortunate timing, especially for the [No.] 4 team. I feel bad for those guys at Kansas with how it is now, but it is what it is. At least they set it in stone about how they are going to treat it from here on out.”
Denny Hamlin didn’t view it as a rule change but more of an interpretation of the rule. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver continues to hope for consistency from NASCAR in matters of officiating.
“We certainly play by the letter of the law for a very long time, and then we varied from that, so while there has been a change since last week, at least if what they said was true, they are going to play it the same from here on out and not change,” Hamlin said. “I would have certainly rather it changed at the end of the year like they talked about, but here we are and hopefully we have some consistency for the last five.”
Briscoe didn’t look into what was said. It was a busy week for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver, whose wife Marissa delivered twins. As such, Briscoe hasn’t been on his phone or paid much attention to anything non-family-related.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, the only driver locked into the Round of 8, is hopeful there won’t be many issues arising that would bring the tow policy into place. Other than Sunday at the Charlotte Roval, Byron doesn’t see the upcoming races as wildcards like what was seen earlier in the postseason.
“I feel like we’re through all those races [where] the DVP is going to be more of an issue,” he said. “In the Round of 8, if you’re crashing, you’re probably not going to make it through anyway. Those races are probably behind us, hopefully. I don’t know; I guess the Roval could be that way, maybe, but we’re going kind of slow around here. In the infield, I feel like you could nurse it back without flat tires. The flat tires are just created from speed, locking the brakes up and stuff.
“I don’t really pay too much attention to it. That’s other peoples’ jobs.”