NASCAR has announced a significant change to its practice format just before the start of the 2026 championship Chase. Starting the weekend of August 23 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the competition will eliminate practice groups, offering all teams 50 minutes of open practice.
This new rule will apply to all non-superspeedway races until the end of the 2026 season. Additionally, as part of this modification, teams will receive an extra set of tires.
It is noteworthy that the Daytona race, which will present a new rule package, will not have practice and will go directly to qualifying. The Talladega race in the fall will also forgo practice time.
The Homestead-Miami Speedway, which will host the final race of the season, has already scheduled an expanded practice session, so it will not be affected by this change.
Previously, the practice format divided the field into two groups, with 25 minutes of time for each. This generated some complaints about the variable track conditions between different groups of drivers.
The current qualifying format will not be altered, and the metric that determines the qualifying order will be maintained, even in the case of a cancellation due to rain. These modifications add to the cost-cutting measures NASCAR began implementing during the Covid-19 pandemic, which limited track time.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
