How Can NASCAR Have Competitive Pitstops During Wet Races?

NASCAR’s most recent Cup Series outing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway saw American stock car racing break new ground. Drivers and teams competed on the track for extended periods of green flag running on a damp surface with wet-weather tires.

Racing on short tracks in wet conditions has been a big unknown but last Sunday’s event proved that the same is possible and healthy for the sport if implemented to a certain extent.

With the 2024 USA TODAY 301 seeing the final 88 laps of the race on the alternate tire compound, NASCAR did take some precautionary measures to ensure the safety of everyone involved. One such step was the mandatory use of the wet-weather compound and non-competitive pit stops.

With the governance already working towards drying the track before going green after the initial rain delay, efforts toward drying the pit lane could be a tweak the sport needs to make going forward. Denny Hamlin spoke on the same on an episode of his podcast as well.

“If pit road is not safe, that’s why we had non-competitive pit stops, then you shouldn’t restart the race until pit road is safe. Do whatever drying you need to do to pit lane and make that safe. Maybe that should be the priority when they go back to drying the facility.” – Denny Hamlin.

Pit Road was essentially deemed unsafe by NASCAR due to the presence of a pit crew around what could potentially be a car losing control on the wet surface, trying to gain an advantage over its competitors. A dry road surface in the pit lane would mean drivers would have more grip entering into the lane itself, while they navigate their pit stalls.

Taking into consideration the risk a normal dry pit stop has for a team’s crew members, a fully dried pit road and a relatively wet track surface could negate the same.

Christopher Bell also chimed in on how NASCAR can have competitive pit stops during damp conditions

Last Sunday’s winner and the driver who dominated the past weekend at NHMS, Bell also chimed in on how the governing body can have a competitive pit road while taking care of the safety of all the individuals involved in the sport. The #20 Toyota Camry driver elaborated on the topic during an appearance on Kevin Harvick’s podcast.

He said, “I’m okay with basically running the races as normal if we’re staying on the same tires. If we’re going to stay on rain tires, I’d be okay to have live pit stops but it’s that transition that I think could get yourself in trouble. Any time that you’re going from one tire to the other is the danger zone for pit road.”

It will be interesting to see if these changes are implemented by NASCAR as the drivers, teams and the governance themselves gain more experience racing in, or rather racing after the rain.