NASCAR meets with owners about eliminating pit stops

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NASCAR met with owners from the Camping World Truck Series at the Kevin Harvick, Inc. shop on Thursday to discuss potential procedural changes for this season.

Chief among those discussed changes was the possible elimination of green/yellow flag pit stops, sources told FOXSports.com.

The sanctioning body wanted to open dialogue to discuss cost saving measures to ensure the health of the series this season since the truck count — and the sponsored truck count in particular — has diminished drastically.

When the truck series first debuted, the series was able to limit expenses by having teams pit once at halfway under a competition caution and have fewer men over the wall.

A similar plan could be in the works that would bring trucks down pit road according to the order on the track. Teams would be allowed to pit and the trucks would then return to the track in the same order, similar to a TV time out in football or basketball.

~FOXSports

Really don't want to see this happen... they're trying to ruin this series.

Oh please!! I hope this doesn't happen.

Awful, simply awful

DeeDee wrote:

Oh please!! I hope this doesn't happen.

I hope not, as well. Imho, that would ruin the series!

Boy they are stupid. If they want to reduce spending- eliminate the Busch series (its a joke, but I know they can't with the nationwide contract) and I think they could shorten cup races some.

Shortening Cup races wouldn't save much money because they would still have to send the same number of crew members to the track.

I will make another person to hope that this change doesn't happen.

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Rule changes ahead for Truck Series UPDATE: In an effort to help save the teams money for the 2009 season and beyond, we are hearing that NASCAR may be ready to announce a couple of rule changes for the Truck Series. First, teams will be limited on the number of hard cards (annual credentials) they can purchase for the season. This will help control the number of people teams are bringing to the track each weekend. The other rule change rumor that is going around, is that NASCAR will limit the number of guys that can go over the wall during a pit stop. NASCAR will go from allowing seven men over the wall, to six. If this happens, expect teams to take away one of the tire carriers. Again, this would in theory help teams save money, as they would need one less crew member for pit stops.(TheNASCARInsiders.com)(12-15-2008)

UPDATE: Now, we are hearing from a few different folks that NASCAR has made a decision and for whatever reason just hasn't announced it publicly. The main rule change regarding the pit crews as we understand it, is as follows: NASCAR will allow only four guys over the wall at any given time. What this means, is teams will have to make one regular pit stop into two stops. They will come down and get tires on the first stop, then have to come back in for fuel. For those of you that were familiar with pit stop rules in the USAR ProCup Series, this new rule is similar to that. From what I understand, this means teams will utilize two tire changers, a jackman, and a tire carrier for tire stops.(TheNASCARInsiders.com)(1-27-2009)

yikes what was it seven and in special circumstances 8 to 4?

I got those numbers, right?

well it would save money on gas and tires and cut down on bad tracks like caly and shortening another nightmare (although I doubt it to happen) like Indy

The latest news says 5 men over the wall, but a team can NOT change tires and fuel on the same stop. They must choose one or the other.

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TRUCKS: NASCAR Limits Engines, Pit Crews to Save MoneyWritten by: SceneDaily.com
SceneDaily.com 01/30/2009 - 11:01 AM
Charlotte, North Carolina Teams will no longer be allowed to add fuel and change tires during the same pit stop. (Photo: LAT) » More Photos
NASCAR will limit Camping World Truck Series teams to five men over the wall instead of seven and not allow them to fuel and change tires during the same pit stop this season, the sanctioning body announced today.

The change in over-the-wall personnel was one of several changes NASCAR announced to help teams in the series save money.

Teams also will not be able to use three different engines in three consecutive events, excluding the races at Daytona and Talladega. After an engine’s initial use, competitors must declare the use of an engine for a future event, and the engine will be sealed by NASCAR. If an engine expires during a race weekend and the team must use a different engine, it must start in the rear of the field, just as in previous seasons. The rule applies to a team's three consecutive races entered and not just the three consecutive races on the schedule, meaning that if a team skipped races, it would still need to race the same engine in two of any three eventsit enters http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/trucks-nascar-limits-engines-pit-crews-to-save-money/

I think they are gonna kill this series

Looks like I'm only tuning in to the Cup Series this season.

I'll still be watching the trucks - hope this move works out.

Don't anybody get me wrong. I really enjoy the series, but I don't know how this is going to work out.

I don't know how it will work out either.
I guess I'll give it some time ... hopefully it will work