NASCAR Makes Oval Wet-Weather Procedure Change Ahead Of Bristol

A change that many have been calling for since NASCAR began utilizing wet-weather tires on ovals in the NASCAR Cup Series is finally coming to fruition. Beginning with this weekend's NASCAR National Series action at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR will be giving teams the power to choose whether to switch between slick and wet-weather tires.

Here is the official rule update from NASCAR:

To start the race, all cars must have the same tire type (slicks or wet weather), as determined by NASCAR.
After the green flag to start the race, if NASCAR issues a caution flag for rain and deems the racing surface damp, it will be each team's choice whether to race on wet weather tires or slicks.
NASCAR may deem pit road as damp. In this case, any yellow-flag pit stops will be non-competitive (Positions will not change on pit road. Cars exiting pit road will be positioned behind cars that stayed out, if applicable.).
Green flag pit stops will remain competitive.

This is a huge change as it now opens up new form of strategy for drivers, crew chiefs, and teams when races are contested in wet-weather conditions.

The way wet-weather oval races had been officiated in the NASCAR National Series until this weekend, was that NASCAR would determine when teams would head down pit road to change between wets and slicks in uncompetitive pit stops, and nobody was allowed to remain on track, regardless if their driver was able to make their car work on the track better than the competition with the given tire they had on the car.

Now, if a driver is able to find decent speed on the wet-weather tires to start the race, they can choose to remain on track, while others pit for slicks as the track condition is deemed dry by NASCAR.

Essentially, this allows a driver and team to flip strategy and potentially gain track position by remaining on track with their wet-weather tires, while others head to pit road for slicks.

It's an interesting new wrinkle for oval races impacted by rain, and it's one that has been called for by many within the industry, as the way these races were officiated before seemed like drivers and teams, which are regarded as the best in American motorsport, weren't trusted to make decisions for themselves on the track.

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