NASCAR to crack down on prerace violations with tougher penalties

NASCAR is revising its penalty structure and on race weekends will immediately penalize offenders for minor violations instead of waiting to issue a penalty a day after the race is completed.

As part of the revisions announced Thursday, teams will now face greater scrutiny when going through technical inspection. If a team is found with a mechanical irregularity or repeatedly fails inspection prior to practice, qualifying or the race, it faces an array of immediate sanctions, including lost practice and qualifying time, loss of pit stall selection, forfeiture of starting position, or having to stop in their pit stall on the first lap of a race.

The severity of the penalty will be determined by the series director and correspond to the violation committed and how many times a team has been sanctioned. Any penalties handed out at the track are not appealable.

Officials will also increase how closely they inspect the engine, chassis, fuel systems, safety components, and the measurement, height and weight of the car. And if a team fails a technical inspection station, it must now restart the process from the beginning instead of at the station it failed.

NASCAR is also condensing the tiered penalty structure from six levels to two -- identified as L1 and L2. These violations involve the chassis, engine, electronic fuel injection, fuel, missing lug nuts, tires, the measurement, height and weight of the car, and telemetry, all of which will be classified after a race’s completion with any penalties announced later. An L2 penalty is considered the most severe.

Other rule revisions of note announced on Thursday:

-- Any driver involved in an accident must report to the in-field care center and undergo a medical evaluation if their car is not repairable. Previously a driver involved in an accident was not subject to a medical evaluation if they could drive their car to the garage.

-- Only six crew members are permitted over the pit wall to work on a damaged car, plus an additional crew member to focus solely on the windshield and driver. Too many crew members over the wall will result in an immediate disqualification.

-- After the completion of Stage 1 and 2, the driver and crew chief of the team that finishes first must make themselves accessible for an interview to the broadcast network covering the race. The interview will be conducted following the completion of pit stops.