NASCAR announced Tuesday competition changes for the next two weeks of racing for the Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series.
You can read in more detail on how NASCAR will determine the starting lineup for Sunday’s Cup race at Darlington Raceway and who that might impact the most here.
The starting lineup for the May 20 Cup race at Darlington will be based on the finish of Sunday’s Cup race. The top 20 finishers from Sunday will be inverted for the starting lineup for the May 20 race. Starting positions 21-40 for the May 20 race will be based on the finishing order of spots 21-40 from Sunday’s Darlington Cup race.
The same format will be used to set the starting lineup for the May 27 Charlotte race, based off the finish of the May 24 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
Here are the changes NASCAR announced for the races from May 17-27 at Darlington Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway for each of the three national series:
Darlington
May 17 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Pit selection:
- Order based on charter team owner points followed by open team owner points. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.
Starting lineup:
- Positions 1-12: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
- Positions 13-24: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
- Positions 25-36: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
- Positions 37-40: Open teams in order of owners points
May 19 (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
Pit selection:
- Order based on Phoenix qualifying.
Starting lineup:
- Positions 1 -12: The first 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up Eligibility will be assigned starting positions 1st – 12th using a random draw.
- Positions 13 – 24: The next 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 13th- 24th using a random draw.
- Starting positions 25 – 36: The next 12 NXS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 25th -36th using a random draw.
- Any vehicles that are eligible for the Event in position 37th – 40th will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility.
May 20 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Pit selection:
- Order based on finishing position from the May 17th race at Darlington, followed by new entries in order of points. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.
Starting lineup:
- Positions 1-20: Invert the top 20 from the May 17th race at Darlington
- Positions 21-40: In finishing order from the May 17th race at Darlington, followed by new entries
Charlotte
May 24 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Pit selection:
- Order based on finishing position from the May 20th race at Darlington, followed by new entries in order of points. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.
Starting lineup:
- Based on qualifying
May 25 (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
Pit selection:
- Order based on finishing position from the May 19th race at Darlington, followed by new entries in order of points.
Starting lineup:
- Same procedure as Darlington
May 26 (NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series)
Pit selection:
- Order based on Las Vegas qualifying.
Starting lineup:
- Positions 1 -10: The first 10 NGROTS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up Eligibility will be assigned starting positions 1st – 10th using a random draw.
- Positions 11 – 21: The next 11 NGROTS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 11- 21 using a random draw.
- positions 22 – 32: The next 11 NGROTS Teams based on the Adverse Conditions Line Up eligibility will be assigned starting positions 22nd – 32nd using a random draw.
- Any vehicles that are eligible for the Event in position 33rd – 40th will be assigned starting positions based on their order of eligibility.
May 27 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Pit selection:
- Order based on qualifying for the May 24th race at Charlotte, followed by new entries in order of points. If qualifying is rained out, pit selection will be determined by finishing order on May 24. Pit stalls will be picked in advance and the pit boxes will be in the stalls when the teams arrive.
Starting lineup:
- Positions 1-20: Invert the top 20 from the May 24th race at Charlotte
- Positions 21-40: In finishing order from the May 24th race at Charlotte, followed by new entries
Modified Competition Caution Procedures:
With the absence of practice, NASCAR will be modifying its Competition Caution procedures to allow teams additional time for adjustments.
The competition cautions will occur at or around the following laps:
- NASCAR Cup Series
- Darlington – May 17: Lap 30
- Darlington – May 20: TBD
- Charlotte – May 24: TBD
- Charlotte – May 27: TBD
- NASCAR Xfinity Series
- Darlington – May 19: Lap 15
- Charlotte – May 25: TBD
- NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Charlotte – May 26: TBD
Below are the procedures for the modified competition caution:
- Field will be frozen at the time of the competition caution
- Field will be assembled behind the pace car
- The running order lead lap / lap down will be established and the free pass sent
- Wave around rule is not in effect
- Pit road will open to the top 20 – each car must beat the pace car off pit road to retain freeze position
- Pit road will open to the next 20 – each car must beat the pace car off pit road to retain freeze position
- Above pit cycle repeats – each team allowed to pit two times
- Re-establish line-up per freeze and restart race
Infractions under modified competition caution:
- Not beating the pace car off pit road results in loss of lap and restarting at tail of the field
- Pitting more than twice or out of sequence results in restarting at the tail of the field
- All current pit road rules are in effect
