Is Eliminating Practice at Superspeedways a Terrible Idea for NASCAR?

In the buildup to the 2024 NASCAR Cup season, officials decided to enforce an arguably bizarre rule. For superspeedways, there will be no practice sessions for the Cup Series drivers. This rule is expected to come into effect at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and future superspeedways. The Daytona 500 was an exception because it follows a different format to decide the Cup Series grid.

The main idea behind the move was that officials figured that there was an emphasis on drafting at superspeedway races. Going by that logic, there was little benefit to drivers having a practice session. Since all that they would be doing was trying to draft each other, and increased the risk of large-scale incidents, at face value, the move made sense. But the drawback was that the lack of practice is a recipe for potential chaos anyway.

Could the lack of practice be a good thing for NASCAR?

As per Autoweek, JTG Daugherty Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr recently said, “If you start stretching that (practice) out, the big teams definitely, I think, start collecting more data on a weekend and can send all four cars in a different direction and kind of hone in on something. In 20 minutes, it’s tough for them to run that many different setups and then change it for qualifying and the race.”

In essence, he was suggesting that with practice sessions, the bigger teams can develop their cars better. Michael McDowell also backed up Stenhouse Jr’s statement, saying that the bigger teams can maximize their car potential and setup. So if the likes of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, and others, are given the chance, they have the manpower. In his words, there are ’75 eyes back at the shop’, who are capable of analyzing data and running simulations. Those teams will be at an advantage compared to teams that don’t have the resources.

What this eventually results in is that, without the practice sessions, all teams will more or less be on equal footing. To be precise, no team will have the chance to gather any data and will head into qualifying and the race blind.

However, Stenhouse Jr was confident that the rookie drivers would be able to adapt quickly. By his estimate, they should be acclimated after three or four races and will be able to keep up with their more experienced adversaries.

Many drivers were understandably unhappy with the decision

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In conversation with NASCAR reporters, Ross Chastain demanded, “Let us practice. It’s what we want. There’s teams and drivers that I can’t speak for, I just speak for myself.”

“I want to practice. Trackhouse wants to practice. Why we are not? I haven’t heard a legitimate answer other than we don’t practice. I’m selfish, I am with the best team in the garage. I want some practice.”

Especially considering that there are a few rookie drivers on the grid, they will need all the help they can get. Having no practice will practically be throwing them into the deep end in a trial by fire. There are newcomers like Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, and others, who could be a bit out of their depth with no practice. If there is no practice, then any attempts to try and get in a draft could potentially end in disaster.

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At least with a practice session, the drivers will be able to work out race tactics in less than serious conditions. Otherwise, in the heat of the race, drivers will be hasty in trying to hook onto with their teammates. Once again, this leads to possible wrecks, which will be very costly for the teams.