🛞 GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES 🛞

Sunday will mark the 2,000th win for Goodyear. In honor of the milestone for the tire manufacturing company, an extra trophy will be awarded to the winner of the race.

Cup cars will run the same tire code used in March that is specific to Atlanta. Teams will be allotted one set for Saturday’s qualifying session and an additional eight sets for Sunday evening’s race.

RULE CHANGES 📝

The GEICO Restart Zone returned to its 2022 dimensions after being extended for this season’s first five races.

Beginning Sunday at Atlanta, NASCAR will implement safety updates to the Next Gen car.

Alongside the right-side door bars and extending towards the rear clip, teams will now be mandated to run a steel plate in addition to the chassis adjustments made for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The right-side door bar gussets and the removal of the front clip V-brace are changes that remain, in addition to the removal of other front-clip components to create a softer and larger crush zone for frontal impacts.

Also included in the updates are front bumper strut softening (modifications to existing parts), the requirement of an empty front ballast box and a modified cross brace. NASCAR will incur the cost of all these updates.

Pit-stop speed-limit procedures will also look a little different this weekend with the pit entrance moved to Turn 3 in March. For green-flag stops this weekend, sections 1 and 2 will be limited at 90 mph while sections 3 through 18 will be policed at 45 mph. Under the yellow flag, pit-road speed will be 45 mph for the full distance of pit road, starting from the white commitment line in Turn 3 to pit exit in Turn 1.

Additionally, NASCAR will extend its Damaged Vehicle Policy by one minute in each series, which is consistent with the sanctioning body’s approach to the March event. Cup teams will have eight minutes to repair damage to their vehicles and meet minimum speed requirements, up from its standard seven minutes. Xfinity teams will have seven minutes to fix their cars, up from six.

In the event of a lost wheel that is contained to pit road, the offending team will be subject to a pass-through penalty under green-flag conditions. If the infraction occurs during a caution period, the offending team will restart at the tail end of the field.

If the wheel breaks free outside of pit road, the new rules guidelines mandate a two-lap penalty plus a two-race suspension for two crew members. Each penalty is series-specific: Violations in one series will not impact those crew members’ eligibility to participate in other series.

RELATED: See rules changes for 2023