NASCAR has announced a significant modification to the format of practice sessions, which will take effect during the upcoming competition weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on August 23. From now on, practices will not be divided into groups, allowing all teams to have 50 minutes of open practice.
This new format will be applied to all races except for superspeedway events for the remainder of the 2026 season. Additionally, as part of this new regulation, teams will be able to have an additional set of tires.
It is important to note that during the Daytona weekend, despite having a new rule package, no practice session is scheduled, and it will move directly to qualifying. On the other hand, the race at Talladega in the fall will also not have assigned practice time.
In contrast, the Homestead-Miami Speedway, which will host the final race of the season, will not be affected by this change, as it is already planned to have an extended practice session for all teams.
Previously, practice sessions were divided into two groups of 25 minutes each, which generated complaints about variable track conditions between the two groups. However, no changes are being introduced to the current qualifying format or the methodology for establishing the qualifying order in case of rain.
The decision to reduce practice sessions started with the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and since then, NASCAR has kept on-track time limited as a cost-saving measure.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
