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NASCAR changes qualifying format for its national series at Talladega, Daytona

Reed Sorenson, Clint Bowyer

Reed Sorenson, Clint Bowyer

AP

NASCAR no longer will allow multiple cars to run together in qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway, series officials announced Monday morning.

The change comes after drivers were critical of the group qualifying format in February at Daytona. Clint Bowyer ripped the format after he was involved in a five-car crash that began when Reed Sorenson tried to block him.

“It’s idiotic to be out here doing this anyway,” Bowyer said. “There’s no sense of trying to put on some cute show for whatever the hell this is.’'

Tony Stewart tweeted in February that the group qualifying format at Daytona was “a complete embarrassment for our series.’'

Modifications to the format for the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series didn’t stop teams from crashing. Six cars wrecked in Xfinity qualifying racing.

The revised format announced Monday for each national series will feature two rounds of qualifying. The top 12 advance to the final round.

Drivers will be allowed one lap per round.

NASCAR will release one car at a time at specific intervals, much like how it does on a road course to keep cars away from each other on the track.

After the first round, the 12 remaining drivers will have their speeds reset for the final round.

Qualifying order for the first round will be set by random draw. Qualifying for the second round will go from the slowest of the 12 cars that advanced to the fastest.

NASCAR will impound the vehicles following each qualifying lap. Vehicles advancing to the final round will be allowed to adjust tape and utilize a cool-down until during the 10-minute break only.

NASCAR goes to Talladega in May. These rules will be used for Daytona in July and Talladega in October.

The qualifying procedures for the 2016 Daytona 500 will be announced at a later day.

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