After watching last night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona, I came away with some concerns about the new pit rules.
NASCAR changed the pit rules for the truck series a few weeks ago to help the truck teams save money. In case you are unfamiliar with these new rules, here’s a brief summary of the changes for 2009:
- Teams will now have to use sealed engines periodically. That means a team cannot go more than three straight races without using one that was previously used in a race and sealed by NASCAR. The idea is to cut down on the number of new engines used.
- Over-the-wall pit crews are being reduced to five members. That means trucks are not allowed to get both tires and fuel on the same pit stop. A team will have to decide whether to get one or the other each time it pits. Trucks will have to make two stops under caution in order to get both tires and fuel.The idea behind that rule is to cut down on the number of crew members a team has to employ.
The idea behind these changes comes not from NASCAR but from the truck teams. Truck Series Director Wayne Auton said last week in Charlotte that truck team owner Kevin Harvick asked for a meeting of owners and NASCAR at which the changes were proposed.
One proposed change that was not adopted was having trucks re-enter the track after pitting under yellow in the same order that they pitted.
I really didn’t like the “double” pit stops under yellow last night. It made trying to figure out who was where and doing what very confusing. On the other hand, this rule could make pit stops inside of 10 laps or so very interesting in some races. This will definitely make strategy come into play, since crew chiefs will have to choose either fuel or tires.
Although the last yellow during Friday night’s race was at lap 9, it really didn’t play that big a role in deciding the finish, as it was pretty much Bodine’s to lose.
I have some big concerns about these new changes. I don’t like NASCAR limiting the number of crew members. I don’t know if this change will require team owners to lay even more crew members off or not, but the thought of even more people losing jobs right now makes me cringe. The changes could possibly endanger two crew member positions per team. That could be a lot of folks unemployed.
Secondly, I think NASCAR should have brought some safety into the new rules. I wish the truck series would have adopted the rule to allow trucks to re-enter the track after pitting in the same order that they pitted. Sure, the rule would make pit stops somewhat boring, but would be much safer for the pit crews. This would have eliminated the need to “hurry” while pitting under yellow thus reducing the chances of an accident on pit road. Also, the pit crews will perform twice as many stops as before. There again increasing the chances of an accident.
The new pit rules could also encourage teams to take a chance with their tires if the need for fuel is greater towards the end of a race.
For example, let’s say there is eight laps to go in a race, and most teams are going to be close on making it to the end on fuel. They also have gone a long stretch on the tires. A caution comes out. Now the crew chief must decide to take tires or gamble with the fuel. The crew chief is very certain the truck will probably run out of fuel before the final lap. He also knows that the tires are probably getting very close to not having much tread left or even coming apart. Usually in this situation the crew chief will bring the truck in and at least change right side tires, and one can of gas. With the new pit rules, the crew chief will more than likely choose to put fuel in the truck over changing the tires. Not changing the tires could put the driver and other drivers at risk of a major accident, which could lead to more costs (for the repairs), injuries or even death.
No one wants teams to be sending drivers on the track with dangerous tires on their truck. With the new rules, teams will be forced to choose either safety or victory.
Safety should never be a choice.
