Has NASCAR Overcomplicated Qualifying?
What’s Happening? NASCAR has made a trend of overcomplicating its most straightforward systems over the past 25 years, whether changing the…
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After a season of confusion for fans, NASCAR is changing its Practice and Qualifying procedures for the 2025 season. These changes affect all three National Series and feature changes to practice format and timing.
What’s Happening? NASCAR has made a trend of overcomplicating its most straightforward systems over the past 25 years, whether changing the…
In 2024, NASCAR introduced a new Cup Series format for most tracks that utilized two qualifying rounds for Groups A and B. The five fastest from each round advanced to a combined final round, while the rest from Group A lined up in the outside row and Group B in the inside row.
This format would shift at tracks like superspeedways and road courses while retaining the two qualifying rounds. The 2024 format also limited each group to 20 minutes of practice, with NASCAR removing practice at some races like the Daytona 500.
This former format confused fans and casual viewers due to its complexity and how some drivers, who were faster than others, could line further back. Furthermore, this system was not fluid throughout NASCAR’s other national series.
The new format is rather traditional, with two key changes: removing the two-round qualifying format at non-superspeedways and additional practice time throughout the season.
In a press release, NASCAR claims the new format “will include more practice time, consistency in procedure across all three series, and a return to simplified starting lineup rules.”
The new standard format, used at 12 tracks this season, consists of 25-minute practices for two groups and one-lap qualifying with no groups, rounds, or time limit. The practice groups are decided by a metric score, with the best-scoring cars in group two. Maintaining groups in practice allows NASCAR to maintain a high amount of on-track activity while removing the confusing 2024 system of groups and alternating rows in qualifying.
Of course, this will change at other tracks that are not considered intermediates.
For non-intermediate tracks, the format changes moderately.
At short tracks, group practice remains the same at 25 minutes. However, this format, used at five tracks, adds a lap to qualifying, much like last season.
At Superspeedways, the format shifts to one lap, with two rounds, in which the fastest ten drivers make it to the final round. This two-round format compensates for a lack of practice at the tracks. However, a benefit to the new system is the highly requested addition of practice for the Daytona 500, something that has disappeared in recent years.
Road course procedure is the outlier of the track formats. While practice remains the same, qualifying utilizes a time limit, group qualifying of 20 minutes per group; however, there is only one qualifying round.
Since slimming down the format in the early 2020s, NASCAR has added additional practice time to new tracks, series returning to tracks, and important races.
Cup Series:
Xfinity Series:
Truck Series:
NASCAR also changed its other National Series formats, maintaining a similar format for each series. The only significant change is that the Truck and Xfinity Series will not have a group practice at Road Courses.
Hopefully, this system maintains the goal of cohesion while removing the confusion of last year’s Cup Series qualifying format.
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