NASCAR Makes Big Change For 41-Car Races

Four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves entered this season’s Daytona 500 as the 41st car thanks to a new rule called the Open Exemption Provisional, which offers elite drivers a guaranteed spot in NASCAR races, if approved by the series. His Trackhouse Racing ream was the first to use it, but the way things worked caused some consternation.

The rule was originally written so that that if the exempted driver qualified for the race on merit, only 40 cars would start the race as usual. If not, they would line up last as a 41st entry. As it turned out, Castroneves was wrecked out of his Daytona Duel qualifying race and needed to use the provisional, which created the largest Daytona 500 starting lineup since 43 cars were last allowed in 2015.

While several drivers were against the idea of offering the provisional for NASCAR’s marquee race, many agreed that if it was going to be made available, then NASCAR should just make the field 41 cars up front so that there is no confusion during qualifying.

Well, that’s exactly what it has done now. The rulebook has been updated with new language that says the extra spot will be added automatically and that there will be 41 cars if more than 40 are attempting to qualify. The provisional entry can still earn a higher qualifying position, but won’t bump one of the other top 40 cars out of the race to get it.

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Points and prize money are forfeited if the car fails to qualify in the top 40 and needs to use the provisional, but the program reduces the risk to the team’s sponsors to help make the effort worth it, which NASCAR hopes will draw more top level drivers to its races. Applications for the provisional must be submitted for at least 90 days before an event and the rule says that “the approval of the request is at the sole discretion of NASCAR.” The series has not announced any more applicants to date.