NASCAR Unveils New Rule Change for Pit Boxes

What’s Happening?

NASCAR made another rule change this week, this time on how race teams can apply adhesives to pit boxes, as pointed out by Bob Pockrass on social media. The new rule states that teams may only apply adhesive to their assigned pit box.

• Adhesive is often sprayed on pit boxes to give drivers better traction when leaving the pits. With the high horsepower of the cars, too much throttle on a slick, concrete surface creates a lot of wheelspin, which means it takes longer for cars to get out of the pit stall. While seemingly minor details, losing a few tenths of a second in the pits could mean a position or two on track.
• According to Pockrass, the teams were spraying the adhesive into open pit boxes beyond the team’s assigned pit box. This creates an unfair advantage since teams who do not have an opening next to their pit stall are confined to only spraying their pit stall with adhesive. This rule makes it so that every team has to spray within their pit box.
• Fans generally do not realize how many rules changes NASCAR makes from week to week. As time goes on, new issues arise, and sometimes minor tweaks are needed for different races.