What happens if NASCAR drivers wreck during qualifying?
August 7, 2010 by
Filed under nascar
I havn’t really payed attention to qualifying in NASCAR, but i recently started to watch it a little bit. I know that for the Sprint Cup series there is more than 43 cars that try to qualify and obviously only 43 make it. So the ones that don’t get a good time fail to qualify. But what happens if they crash during qualifying? Like how do they find out where they start?
it depends if they are in the top 35 owners points thye are locked in field.. and if something like what happened to Regan today he will start 43
if a driver is in the must qualify on time if they wreck out before thye take a time they are done..
They can use a back up car if they are in top 35 points…but still have to start at the end of the field.
Go to a backup car and move to the back of the field, just like David Ragan will this weekend.
Nas88car is correct.
It depends if the driver has already completed a lap. Lets say Joe Nemechek who is a go or go home car *needs to qualify to race* completes a lap and his time is recorded. Joe goes for a second lap and puts the #87 in the wall and the car is totaled. Joes time would be set by his first lap because he had already recorded a time. If Joe wrecked his first lap then he would be called DNF or did not finish. David ragan got a DNF on his qualifying lap today at Infienon which essentilaly means his time was withdrawn and he will start at the back. Now even though Davids time is withdrawn because he wasnt able to complete a qualifying lap, he is still guartneed to start the race because hes in the top 35 in owner points. If in Joe Nemecheks case, he wrecks on the first lap because hes a go or go home car he would go home unless if a bunch of other drivers in the Go or go home category crash during there time runs. So to sum it all up if you complete a lap in qualifying and you wreck the 2nd lap, ur time from your 1st lap is scored. If you wreck your 1st lap of Qualifying you dont recieve a time and start at the end of the field.
they are out of luck as you have to start the race with the car you qualify in
No Jerry, they don’t have to start in the car they qualify in. If Nascar deems the car unrepairable, then they can bring out a back up car. Teams have to have permission from Nascar to change engines, transmissions, or go to a back up car. In most cases they start in the back of the field as long as they are locked in via the top 35 rule.
It is not a DNF. DNF = did not finish. It is a DNQ = did not qualify.
Depends on who crashes and where he is in the owner points standings at the time. For e.g., a couple of years ago, Jimmie Johnson, well he didn’t crash but he spun out qualifying for a race in Dover. He was high enough in the points to get in the field based on the top 35 being locked in, so he raced.
If he was out of the top 35 he would have missed the race for sure.l=
Jimmie Johnson wins
still start