NASCAR Introduces 'Open Exemption Provisional' in 2025 Rule Book Update

NASCAR announced sweeping updates to the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book on Friday which includes the introduction of the 'Open Exemption Provisional'.
NASCAR announced sweeping updates to the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book on Friday which includes the introduction of the 'Open Exemption Provisional'. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

NASCAR made several adjustments to the NASCAR Cup Series rule book on Friday, among the biggest of the changes is the introduction of a new "Open Exemption Provisional" (OEP).

According to NASCAR, the OEP would guarantee a starting position in NASCAR Cup Series events for world-class drivers who enter a NASCAR Cup Series event in an Open (non-locked in) entry. While its similar to a promoter's provisional in other forms of racing, any driver or team that utilizes the OEP will be ineligible to score race points, playoff points, and will not receive any prize money or tiebreaker benefits from their finishing position.

Drivers utilizing an OEP would be credited with race wins, and stage wins if they achieve those feats, and would be eligible to compete in the NASCAR All-Star Race as a result of a race win, but the win would not count toward Playoff eligibility.

So, who is eligible to utilize the OEP? That remains to be seen. According to the Rule Book, the OEP criteria will be on a "case-by-case basis." In order to be eligible to utilize the OEP, a team must request the provisional at least 90 days prior to an event.

You would expect this would create a path for a driver such as Helio Castroneves, who is attempting his first-career Daytona 500, to make the race regardless of qualifying and the duels. Drivers such as Castroneves are not running for championship points, and this would be a way for a driver of that caliber to secure a place in the field when there are more than 40 cars on the entry list.

In addition to the OEP, NASCAR also made tweaks to the Damaged Vehicle Policy in the NASCAR Cup Series. Cars placed on the DVP will now be permitted to drive to the garage or be towed to the garage where they'll be allowed to work on the cars without being eliminated from competing for the rest of the race.

For cars being fixed on pit road, the seven-minute clock (eight-minutes at Atlanta) will remain in effect. When the clock expires, the team must take the car back to the garage where they can continue to work on the car. Once a car is taken to the garage area, there will be no clock.

NASCAR will tow cars back to the garage that are unable to drive back to pit road regardless of if its due to damage or flat tires.

Additionally, NASCAR made an amendment to the Playtoff Waiver process. If a driver misses a race, and is granted a Playoff Waiver, the driver will forfeit all current and future Playoff Points, which means Playoff Waiver drivers will enter the Playoffs with a maximum of 2,000 points. The only exceptions to this rule pertain to medical reasons including driver medical, birth of a child, family emergency, etc., and age restrictions.

Kyle Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600 this past season while attempting his first career start in the Indianapolis 500, and necessitated a Playoff Waiver to remain eligible for the Championship. If the same situation were to happen in the future, Larson, or whatever driver missed the race for this type of reason, would forfeit all of their earned Playoff Points and future Playoff Points as a result.

The NASCAR Rule Book also had tweaks to the wording of the 100% Rule, which now focuses more on race manipulation, and NASCAR also included penalties to OEMs (manufacturers) for requesting race manipulation to help out one of the manufacturer's cars (such as the Chevrolet and Toyota manipulation situation at Martinsville in the fall in 2024).


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Toby Christie
TOBY CHRISTIE

Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.