Breaking Down the New 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying Procedure
What’s Happening? After a season of confusion for fans, NASCAR is changing its Practice and Qualifying procedures for the 2025 season….
During the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he has heard rumors that NASCAR could add more on-track practice for the 2026 season.
Amid all the wild NASCAR news last week, one story not overlooked by fans was RFK Racing owner Brad Keselowski, who teased on Corey LaJoie’s podcast, Stacking Pennies, that NASCAR could be making a major change, implementing a long-requested increase in horsepower.
It’s unknown whether NASCAR will implement this at all tracks, as recently, Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer stated that NASCAR wants to assess which tracks this increase would be applied to.
But, we do know that this increase will likely be to 750 horsepower, Doug Yates, CEO of Roush Yates Engines, said in May, “probably wouldn’t be much of a change” for NASCAR’s engine builders. The only question is whether it will be enough to help NASCAR’s short-track and road-course racing product.
Some in the industry believe it is possible that this could help, while others think it’s still not enough. While it is yet to be seen what this could do, on the latest episode of The Dale Jr Download, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. agreed this increase is “not a ton,” but the addition of horsepower, no matter how much, is a move in the right direction.
In fact, Earnhardt has heard this may not be the only long-requested change NASCAR is making for the 2026 season.
During this discussion, Earnhardt claimed he had heard rumors that NASCAR was considering adding more practice time to race weekends in 2026.
“Also hearing a little rumor, there could be a little more practice back on the schedule next year. . . I’m hearing this more so in Xfinity, that there’s just conversations around, ‘Should we have more weekends [that] there are more practice?'” — Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Any plans for expanded practice sessions are yet to be announced and as Earnhardt says, more practice time is just “a conversation” and is not “a done deal.”
However, based on what Earnhardt says, NASCAR could be considering adding more practice at select race weekends, although it seems this could be limited to the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and possibly the Craftsman Truck Series.
While there is no indication NASCAR is headed this direction, Earnhardt says he supports this move, saying that Xfinity and Truck Series drivers who are driving new cars at unfamiliar tracks need this, despite the cost associated with expanded on-track practice.
“Our Truck drivers, our Xfinity drivers, they need the laps. . . we’ve got a lot of guys that are going into these cars that haven’t driven them before, that are going to racetracks they’ve never raced before, and they’re getting 10, 20 minutes of practice,” Earnhardt said.
Throughout the years, NASCAR’s pre-race qualifying and practice procedures have changed. The days of multiple long sessions of practice, a qualifying session, and happy hour have given way to shorter, cost-effective sessions.
Currently, the NASCAR NASCAR Series employs a two-session format, with two designated groups receiving 25 minutes of on-track time each, except for the NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series, which get an added 25 minutes for a 50-minute complete field session at road courses. None of the three series practice at superspeedways, except for the Daytona 500.
While fans want more on-track action, industry members have pointed to the need for more time for inexperienced drivers, such as Shane van Gisbergen, who are adjusting to a new form of racing. While SVG is a road course ace, he has struggled to adjust to Ovals, though he is improving as his on-track time has increased throughout the season.
If NASCAR adds more practice time, Earnhardt suggested 45 to 50 minutes with no groups. However, some online fan groups have suggested that an hour for each group, totaling two one-hour sessions, could be a compromise.
What’s Happening? After a season of confusion for fans, NASCAR is changing its Practice and Qualifying procedures for the 2025 season….
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