As the NASCAR season is set to begin, the sanctioning body has made some changes to the rules for the new season.

Stage racing has been a part of NASCAR racing for a number of years, but beginning with the 2023 season, there will be some changes when it comes to road racing.  While the stages themselves will continue, there will be no caution flags at the end of the stages.  When it comes to road races, the teams seldom depend on the cautions to make pit stops, but rather “short pit” and come down pit road prior to the caution flag to obtain track position.

For the road course races the green/white checkered flag will wave but the track will continue to stay green unless there is an on-track reason for a caution flag.

The exceptions to the new rule will be the three standalone road courses at Mid-Ohio, Portland, and Road America in the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series where the end of stage cautions will continue.

NASCAR’s new senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer spoke on the change saying, “when we introduced stage racing four or five years ago, we took an element of strategy away from the event [at road courses].  So we felt like this is going to bring some new storylines.”


When NASCAR debuted the single hub lug nut last season, with the introduction of the Next Gen car, there was an issue with wheels coming off of the cars.  As a result, several teams were penalized with a four race suspension for the crew chief, tire changer, and jackman.

Modifying a rule that has been in place since 2015, NASCAR has made a major change to the missing tire rule. 

If a wheel comes off during the race on pit road during green flag conditions the driver must serve a pass-through penalty (coming down pit road at pit speeds without making a stop). 

If the wheel comes off on pit road during a caution flag then the driver must restart the race from the back of the field.

If the wheel comes off on the racing surface then the driver must serve a two lap penalty; in addition, two crew members will serve a two race suspension.


For most of NASCAR’s history races only occurred during dry weather conditions.  A few years ago, NASCAR allowed for foul weather tires and races only on road courses.  Beginning with the 2023 season NASCAR has expanded the list of tracks where wet-weather racing will be allowed – the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Martinsville Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway for All-Star weekend, Phoenix Raceway, Richmond Raceway, The Milwaukee Mile and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Wet weather equipment includes special tires designed to work in the wet, a windshield wiper, red tail lights, and an optional defogger inside the car.


NASCAR has also made some modifications to the playoff eligibility rules.  Previously Cup Series drivers must be in the top 30 in points or the top 20 for the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series, that portion of the rule has been eliminated; however, a driver must run (or at least start) every race in order to be eligible for the playoffs.  The only exception is if a driver sustains an injury and is granted a waiver by NASCAR to participate in the playoffs.


Other rule changes:
A few years ago NASCAR established the “choose rule” allowing the leader to choose which lane they wished to restart the race in, but the rule did not extend to the super speedways and dirt track races.  That exception has now been removed; allowing for the “choose rule” for all races.

At least for the beginning of the 2023 season, the “restart zone” has been expanded by 50 percent for the first five races and will be re-evaluated after the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

NASCAR has also made some adjustments to the “crash clock” in the Damaged Vehicle Policy (DVP).  Teams are now allowed seven minutes to make repairs to the cars on pit road but no specialized repairs tools will be allowed.  While toe links may be repaired on pit road; any car (or truck) that requires a trip to the garage for crash repairs will be out of the race.  Mechanical repairs in the garage are still allowed.

Last season saw a number of incidents where drivers ran through an unlawful number of pit boxes or encroached on a neighbouring pit box during a stop.  NASCAR has added new orange markers to better highlight the pit boxes and have updated the rules when it comes to determining vehicle and crew interference during a pit stop.  While not specific, the competition committee may assess a penalty for any interference.


In making his bid for a spot in the final four in a battle for the championship at Martinsville Speedway last October, Ross Chastain stomped on the gas pedal and made a run against the wall going into turn three and continued into turn four and the finish line.  Named the “Hail Melon”, the move took Chastain from tenth to fifth and earned him a spot in the playoffs. 

At the time NASCAR saw no fault with the move noting that technically he did not break any rules.  Now, NASCAR has made some changes to the rules that will no longer allow such a move.  Rule 10.5.2.6.A now states, “safety is a top priority for NASCAR and NEM (NASCAR Event Management). Therefore, any violations deemed to compromise the safety of an Event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of Competitors, Officials, spectators, or others are treated with the highest degree of seriousness. Safety violations will be handled on a case-by-case basis.”  While not specified, officials said that if any driver attempts a “Hail Melon” like move will be assessed a time penalty.

Elton Sawyer spoke on the ruling saying, “basically, if there’s an act that we feel that compromises the safety of our competitors, officials, and spectators we’re going to take that seriously. And we will penalize for that act going forward. Basically, what it would be is a lap or time penalty at the end of the race, so that move at Martinsville would be a penalty.”

While an impressive display on the track, Chastain stated after the race, “why it worked? I don’t know, but I have no ideas or plans to ever do that again because it was not pleasant.”

Drivers Chase Elliott and Joey Logano were in awe at the move; but also apprehensive of the dangers it could bring.