With the 2024 NASCAR season done and dusted, attention has quickly turned towards 2025. As one would expect, the new season also means that new rules and regulations will be in effect. Of course, the governing body aims to improve the sport while trying to save as much money as possible. Unfortunately, fans may not be as receptive to such a stunt.

Earlier, there were reports that the Truck Series crew members’ firesuits would have design restrictions. NASCAR issued a memorandum to the various Truck Series teams. This document outlined several guidelines to observe, and they were broken down into behind-the-wall and over-the-wall.

For behind-the-wall pit crew members, the general guidelines for firesuits are as follows: The firesuit colors are at the team’s discretion, but they have to be consistent across an organization. One big sticking point is that sponsorship branding is not permitted on the firesuits. However, the organization recommends that the suits include the Craftsman, Sunoco, Goodyear, and NASCAR bar logos, but it isn’t a deal breaker.

For the team over the wall, sponsorship branding is allowed, but they have a submitted design for their fire suits that they will use for the entire season. This is in place to ensure teams do not have ‘one-off’ designs for specific races to use the previous year’s firesuits for the current season. Aside from using one-off designs, there is a safety aspect, where teams have often been caught out for lacking certain equipment or not meeting safety certifications.

New information reveals hidden ‘union’

With all this information out there, members of the NASCAR community were up in arms about the changes as these compromise teams’ ability to use sponsors and this is just another cost-cutting method from NASCAR. NASCAR’s new rules force Truck Series teams to pay upfront for new uniforms, and removing branding from behind-the-wall crew members also eliminates a valuable income stream for teams.

However, Matt Weaver posted on X that these changes were more discussed than ordered.

NASCAR reporter Matt Weaver posted this on X: “Some extra context I’ve been given: The Truck Series has a collaboration committee consisting of NASCAR and seven teams representing 24 entries. Told this concept was suggested by the committee to cut costs and NASCAR approved it.” 

This collaborative committee consisted of NASCAR and seven teams representing 24 Truck entries. While this is a good sign overall, the information is coming after a severe backlash faced by NASCAR for the change. In a bid to dumb down the flames, it seems like NASCAR is letting everyone know that a committee collaborated and discussed this new rule which they only approved. Many fans were unaware of such a committee within NASCAR, with one pointing out, “The truck series has a union?”

Truthfully, there will be a lot of cribbing and moaning over the next week or so. Many people are often averse to change, but it remains to be seen if this regulation will have a positive impact. Legends of the sport such as Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have expressed their distaste toward the new ruling. Kevin Harvick posted on X saying, “What in the world is happening….”

Considering that reportedly a committee representing all the teams some teams themselves conceptualized this rule, there could be a more satisfying conclusion to this story. After all, NASCAR also had safety in mind when proposing this. In a high-speed sport of this caliber, driver and crew member safety is of utmost importance. Back in the early days of the stock car racing series, firesuits were practically non-existent. It was only afterward that fire-retardant clothing was introduced and subsequently enforced. Of course, firesuits for drivers are par for the course, but the crew needs to have them as well.

As such, if teams are found to violate these new rules, there will be punishment. Of course, what does rub people the wrong way is that another reason behind the rule change is to cut costs. In the end, what’s done is done and there is nothing that people can do about it. What do you think about the new rule changes?