NASCAR to try new inspection process
Monday, 19 March 2018
By Kelly Crandall / Image by Whitton/LAT
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NASCAR will try a new inspection procedure this weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
The sanctioning body is working toward a way to effectively penalize teams who do not make it through inspection and fail to make a qualifying lap. During Friday's qualifying session in Fontana, 13 cars did not get on track. Since those teams would have started the race on sticker tires, NASCAR chose to give those who did participate in qualifying
the option to buy sticker tires to start the race instead of their scuffed tires to even out the playing field.
This weekend at Martinsville, inspection will take place after the Saturday qualifying session instead of beforehand, as has been the norm. Teams who fail inspection will have their times disallowed and will start at the rear of the field.
"We're actually kind of looking forward to that as way [to go] forward, actually," Scott Miller, senior vice president of competition, said Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "It would be really good if we could get it down to one major inspection for the weekend moving forward."
The Cup Series will have a two-day show this weekend at Martinsville with practice Saturday morning and qualifying taking place after the Camping World Truck Series race that afternoon.
Inspection after qualifying will also serve as pre-race inspection, as the cars will be impounded after qualifying.
"They know how to do it," Miller said of teams getting through inspection. "It's up to the teams to not create a bad story failing post-qualifying inspection."