NASCAR Through the Gears: Why Kyle Larson wants a sunny Indy. The trial moves forward

Friday news dumps are where organizations go to release information they hope to bury on the discreet radar.

This is the timing used by NASCAR last week to make significant changes in the way it does things – you know, the rule book.

If anyone in the big GlassCar building on Speedway Boulevard was considered controversial, let’s assume this is the amendment that could easily be called “The Kyle Larson Rule.”

Let’s start there and go over these rule changes, and finally finish with the latest update on the most recent update on updated courtroom cases. Waiting for a call, of course.

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First Gear: The Indy-Charlotte double gets crushed

It all started last May when Kyle Larson’s spirited race at the Indy 500 was delayed by rain, forcing him to miss the start of that night’s Coke 600 in Charlotte.

Except that didn’t “force” Kyle to miss the start of the NASCAR race. He chose to do so, along with team owner Rick Hendrick. Kyle didn’t even make a lap at Charlotte – by the time he arrived by helicopter and rushed to the pits, the rain had hit Charlotte and the race never resumed.

Much internal debate ensued in the corner offices, because to be eligible for the NASCAR playoffs, a driver must compete in all 26 regular season races. Kyle obviously did not, but after an inconvenient delay for all constituencies to be heard, Kyle was granted his waiver.

With Kyle signed to run the Indy-Charlotte doubleheader again this year, clarity from NASCAR was needed. And they brought clarity. This time, if Kyle misses the Charlotte race – or if a driver misses a race for non-exempt reasons – NASCAR will decide the waiver compensation, and by the way, the new rule states that the decision is not subject to change. ‘call.

And if the waiver is granted, there’s a big price to pay: The driver gives up all the playoff points he earned during the regular season and enters the playoffs with the minimum base points, which is Last year, Kyle had 2,040 points to start the playoffs, a 36-point advantage over the 16th-ranked driver.

Oh, the admissible causes for missing a race? Fairly classic: injury, family emergency (including childbirth), etc.

Second gear: welcome to the Daytona 500, Helio Castroneves

The rest won’t be so hard to digest, I promise. And we will continue with what might be called the “Helio Rule”, officially known as an interim interim exemption for stars of other forms of racing who are considered “world-class drivers”.

Let’s say a team, like Trackhouse Racing, wants to field a car for a single-seater star, say, four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves. NASCAR will reserve a starting spot for this. Certainly, this will only be a problem when 40 or more cars are entered, since that is the maximum.

Or was the maximum. If more than 40 people show up, as will be the case for the Daytona 500, a 41st entry will be allowed for a Helio – or a Jensen Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Josef Newgarden, etc.

A team must request this exemption 90 days in advance, which tells us that Trackhouse must have known the rule was coming and gave a warning a few months ago regarding Helio and its desire to enter him in the Daytona 500 on 16 FEBRUARY. .

Third gear: take your time with the keys (and behave yourself)

Here’s one that shouldn’t be controversial.

The new damaged vehicle policy became less criminal for, you know, damaged vehicles.

For several years, teams had seven minutes to repair a damaged car in their pit box. If it could not, or if the car was not able to return to the pits on its own, the car was out of the race.

In the old days, teams could take a car to the garage, repair it and put it back on the track in the hope of gaining a few finishing positions on the others, and something perhaps just as important: maintaining some sponsor visibility on the track. track and, perhaps, on all those color televisions across the country.

With sponsorship becoming more and more fragmented, if Big Ed’s Mufflers is only present on a car three races per year, Big Ed wants its logo to be visible as much as possible. It’s a smart decision.

Before we leave third gear, let’s cheat and include this, to keep the best gear for the Boys in Legal.

NASCAR also took a big step to avoid what happened at Martinsville last November during the final round of 16 race. “Order of arrival manipulation” is a nice way of putting it. Manufacturers (Chevy, Ford, Toyota) are now potential targets for such sanctions, which could include suspensions and team-related restrictions such as loss of wind tunnel time, loss of manufacturer points, etc.

Fourth Gear: Michael Jordan leaves the field with a W (pending, of course)

Motions to dismiss cases are rarely granted when there is no clear reason to do so. So it’s no surprise that U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth D. Bell said no to NASCAR’s request to make the entire 23XI/Front Row antitrust case go away.

Front Row Motorsports and the 23XI team – co-owned by Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk – have filed an antitrust suit against NASCAR.

On paper, it appears the case is set to go to trial in December of this year. But you never know, as the judge points out at the end of his statement in court last Friday.

“…Answers must be found when the parties are given a full opportunity to continue investigating the relevant facts, and then at trial, where the jury will be able to weigh the evidence and assess the credibility of the evidence. witnesses (unless the case is found otherwise). resolved earlier by the parties or by the court).

— Email Ken Willis at [email protected]

This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR news: New rules targeting Kyle Larson, cheaters. MJ Update