On Wednesday, a new set of rules for the Chase was introduced by NASCAR. Scott Miller, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition described the changes to NASCAR.com.
"The changes are made to assure that we have a level playing field and make sure that there's not a carrot out there for the team to have excessive violations when it comes to lug nuts and the LIS post-race measurements," he said.
This will allow NASCAR officials to be more in control of its racers and their teams. According to NASCAR's site, prior to amending the rules, infractions on lug-nuts have resulted only to minor suspensions and fine for the crew chief. In addition, Laser Inspection Station (LIS) failures resulted in the drivers' and owners' loss of points.
Check Out The Changes
To cite an example on the newly introduced rules for Chase, when an LIS failure occurs, it is now considered a P4 level penalty. Meanwhile, the initial violation in the Sprint Cup Series would result in major point deduction and a serious fine.
Teams who violated the rules on lug-nut were already given penalties, including Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Based on the new rules, the officials will be conducting inspections post-race, to ensure the wheels are fastened after a pit-road checkpoint.
The LIS platform used to precisely measure cars' chassis-failures this year were linked to rear toe alignment incidents, and six Sprint Cup Series drivers and teams have been already penalized, as stated in NASCAR.
Cause And Effect
These stricter rule changes for Chase has been in hot water due to a significant effect it did not only on the Chase format but to the NASCAR Championships as a whole. Based on Autoweek.'s report, the previous rules would have brought up seven different champions if it wasn't for the modification of the rules.
The site also provided the number of championships before and after implementing the updated rules on Chase format. Scott Miller told the site that he expects the rules to linger even after the 2017 season.
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