NASCAR recently announced that they are set to start disqualifying race-winning cars that break any of the rules during the new season in a move that they hope will begin to remove their long culture of cheating with a brand new penalty system.

Steve O’Donnell, chief racing development officer of NASCAR has stated that if a racer is illegal, they simply cannot win a race, adding that they cannot allow penalties and vehicle inspections to continue to be a prolonged storyline and that all racing vehicles are expected to begin to adhere to the new rulebook from start to finish.

Their new approach to cheating is a big change for a franchise that traditionally hoped fans would leave events knowing exactly who won the race. If cars failed inspections, either during on the track or when they underwent tear-downs at NASCAR’s research and development centres, the teams would usually have points docked, or they would be issued a fine. In some rare cases, racers themselves would be suspended from taking place, and it’s expected to have far-reaching impacts on other industries, such as the online betting world.

Changes to Inspections

Moving forward, inspections will be completed at the track, and they expect each inspection will take around 90 minutes to finish. Winning teams now have the chance of losing the trophy if they fail inspections, but all disqualified cars could have losing points, bigger fines, and even being barred from winning completely.

Kevin Harvick’s race-winning car failed its inspections twice during last season’s inspections, and in both instances, he was ordered to pay fines, along with issued suspensions and a loss of points.

He won the Texas Motor Speedway in November and was given a spot in the championship finale but was ultimately removed from the race when his car failed inspection at the R&D centre a few days after the race. The new system will see runner-ups being declared the winner should the previous winner be disqualified, and the team with the illegal car will only be liable to receive a single championship point.

The Last Straw

The new penalty system is the way of the future and has been put in place due to the many scenes that unfolded during the last season of NASCAR with teams using multiple attempts to try and get through inspections.

NASCAR has stated that they will now reserve the right to eject team members, dock practice time, and even bar cars from qualifying for a race if they fail a total of three times. Any cars that fail pre-race inspection will be forced to go back to the field at the start, and a third failure will require a pass-through penalty at the start of each race.

They have also shorted the first round of short tracks to keep races entertaining despite the many new rule changes, with races now down from 15 minutes to 10.

This will see drivers getting on the track and making their qualifying attempt in a shorter space of time rather then idling on the pit road or trying to complete a fast lap just as the timer expires.