NASCAR Reveals MAJOR Rule Changes for 2025; DVP and Playoff Waivers Changed
What’s Happening? NASCAR is making major changes to its rule book ahead of the 2025 NASCAR season. These changes include Damaged…
Four races into the 2025 Cup Series season, NASCAR is revising the new Open Exemption Provisional (OEP). The OEP was a major source of debate among drivers and fans throughout Daytona Speedweeks. Now, the sport has changed the OEP rules surrounding field size and when drivers can use it.
NASCAR has changed the open exemption provisional to where if it is granted, there will be 41 cars in the field. No more if that driver qualifies, then there's 40 but if the driver doesn't qualify, then there's 41.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 12, 2025
NASCAR has changed the OEP rules to clarify that if the OEP is in use, the field will be set at 41 cars, meaning the team has to use the provisional even if fewer show up. Alongside this change, the rulebook now states, “NASCAR has full discretion to deem certain Events ineligible for the OEP.” This means that, going forward, not every NASCAR Cup Series event will be OEP eligible.
Originally, the OEP, a provisional system that designates a spot for “world-class” drivers in any NASCAR Cup Series race, should NASCAR approve the driver, would expand the field beyond 40 cars should a driver drive using the OEP and not make the field on speed.
However, on Jan. 13, NASCAR claimed that if a driver made the field on speed, the field would remain at 40 cars, and the OEP driver would not utilize the OEP; as of today, this rule is no longer in effect.
What’s Happening? NASCAR is making major changes to its rule book ahead of the 2025 NASCAR season. These changes include Damaged…
NASCAR introduced the OEP to promote non-NASCAR drivers entering Cup Series races with little risk of failing to qualify. While it seems as if an OEP would give teams free money for entering international drivers, there is a catch. Teams and drivers using an OEP do not earn money or points for their efforts.
Teams must request an OEP at least 90 days prior to a race. The first team to use an OEP was Trackhouse Racing and driver Hélio Castroneves. Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 champion, applied for his OEP for this year’s Daytona 500. Not only did Castroneves apply for the OEP, but he ended up using it to make the 500 as his No. 91 entry crashed out of its duel race. Castroneves’ Daytona 500 hopes ended after a lap 71 crash Sunday evening.
The OEP is already off to a controversial start. During speed weeks, the OEP was panned by most “open” drivers, including NASCAR Cup Series champions Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. Furthermore, team owners, like active driver Denny Hamlin, expressed their dislike for the new rule both prior to and after the 500.
With the latest changes to the OEP procedure and the already confusing nature of its ins and outs, it looks as if the future of this provisional will be just as shaky as its debut.
What’s Happening? In a preseason interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Denny Hamlin gave further context on his opinions of…
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