On Tuesday, NASCAR officials announced the regulations for the 2020 Cup Series season. For the most part, such rules go unchanged outside of minor adjustments.
“The 2019 season has produced great racing and we anticipate the level of competition to continue to rise as teams build off this rules package in 2020,” NASCAR Senior Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development John Probst said.
Various changes seek to lower costs and increase parity between teams. For example, each car will be allowed a maximum of twelve “active” chassis and four “inactive”, with statuses being changed after use in at least three races or if a chassis is damaged beyond repair. Teams are also limited to ten unique designs for the chassis.
Other limits include reducing road crew personnel (engineers, mechanics, and spotters) from twelve to ten and organisational staff (technical directors and managers) from four to three, while wind-tunnel testing will be restricted to 150 hours annually at four approved wind tunnels.
Teams must also use a full long-block sealed engine and short-block engine for at least eight races apiece. In the past, the rule stipulated teams would run three and thirteen races with the long- and short-block, respectively.
“Collectively, we continue to work closely as an industry to put on the best racing possible for our fans, while working diligently on the Next Gen car, scheduled to make its debut in 2021,” Probst added.
The Next Gen car is the new official name for what has typically been called the Generation-7 car. While the car will not arrive on track until 2021, rumours and reports have pointed toward clues like current open-wheel chassis manufacturer Dallara doing the same for NASCAR.
