In the wake of the fire in Kevin Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing number four car during stage three of the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR has made some rule changes for the Cup Series cars going into Kansas this weekend. JJ Yeley also had an issue with fire in his number 15 Rick Ware Racing car. NASCAR has seen a few issues involving flames under the cars this season. The fire in Harvick’s where flames were coming into the cockpit via the dash has been the worst so far. Thankfully there have been no injuries due to those fires.
Teams are now allowed to add an intumescent coating to the underside of the lower crush panels, inside the the exhaust cover panels, on the upper surface of the rocker box, and to the right side stop panel.
An intumescent coating is one that aids in the fire protection of steel components.
Other changes include a lateral seal or dam be installed between the back of the front clip weight box and the top of the splitter panel to aid in the reduction of tire debris migrating from the splitter panel area.
NASCAR also issued instructions on trimming the stop panel and suggested that the crews maximize the clearance between the exhaust and the rocker box.
NASCAR will continue to study the matter and issue further updates and adjustments as needed.