NASCAR will use group qualifying for Sprint Cup series on road courses

SONOMA, CA - JUNE 24: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard/7-Eleven Chevrolet, leads a group of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma on June 24, 2012 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

 

SONOMA, CA - JUNE 24:  Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard/7-Eleven Chevrolet, leads a group of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma on June 24, 2012 in Sonoma, California.  (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SONOMA, CA – JUNE 24: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard/7-Eleven Chevrolet, leads a group of cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma on June 24, 2012 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Sonoma Raceway and NASCAR announced Monday that there will be a new qualifying procedure used at the road course at Sonoma in June and at Watkins Glen in August.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will implement the group-based road-course qualifying procedure used in NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Touring Series competition during its road-course events. Under the new procedure, cars will qualify in groups instead of the traditional single-car qualifying runs.

“This is going to be a terrific new format for our NASCAR weekend. It will intensify the action on the track with drivers having to fight through traffic to establish their overall position on the grid,” said Steve Page, president and general manager for Sonoma Raceway in a press release. “It’s a very positive development for our fans.”

The new qualifying rules for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at road courses are as follows: MORE>>>

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.