Since NASCAR has announced the new OEM provisional rule for the Trucks Series, the talk about it hasn’t stopped. The new ‘provisional’ exemption will open up the last four slots, from 37 to 40, for the teams racing with new manufacturers, letting them bypass the regular qualification entirely. And NASCAR fans didn’t take long to connect the dots and know that this rule is meant for Kaulig Racing, which is making an entry with RAM this time.
As a result, the fans created a massive uproar about the unfair advantage that Kaulig Racing has gained. But what exactly is the real advantage of this rule? Let’s hear it from NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass.
Advertisement
Bob Pockrass reveals the crazy advantage for RAM Trucks and Kaulig Racing
Now, a question might arise in your mind. How will P37-P40 help Kaulig Racing during the first few races? Aren’t they starting from dead last, even if they manage to use this rule? Also, Dodge is a race-winning manufacturer from the earlier days of NASCAR, so surely they know a thing or two about building NASCAR vehicles.
Secondly, a fan made another sensible point. The rule would anyway only come to play when a manufacturer’s truck is so bad that it can’t qualify on speed at all. So in this case, the rule is not going to steal a faster truck’s spot, but add that slower truck at the end of the field. And this shouldn’t be concerning anyway if their form isn’t good.
These arguments look ideal on paper, but the reality hits differently on track. Motorsports has always been a sport that abuses loopholes. Every team is looking forward to somehow gaining an unfair advantage. Here’s why FOX analyst Bob Pockrass blames and exposes NASCAR for its new rule:
Advertisement
“One issue imho is if more than 36 trucks at first three races, Ram drivers can be more on edge in practice & qualifying b/c if they wreck, they still make the field. For others on bubble on owner points, they can’t take that risk — and could be slower in qualifying b/c of it.”
The very first rule of motorsports is–do not crash. It’s okay to run in dead last, but it’s definitely not okay to crash your vehicle. Why? It’s because crashing the car before the race weekend lands the team in a difficult spot. They may not qualify for the main race if they fail to fix the vehicle, leading to a massive loss in sponsor money and a complete wastage of time and resources.
Here’s where NASCAR’s new rule will come into play. Let’s say Kaulig racing drivers are driving around without a care, eager to find the limits of their car. In an ideal scenario–they will lose contention in the race the moment they damage the car beyond repair. But with NASCAR’s new ‘exemption,’ Kaulig Racing will get a spot anyway, because they are racing with a new manufacturer.
Advertisement
So basically, out of all the trucks, Kaulig Racing’s trucks could drive literally care-free in qualifying and practice without the fear of getting wrecked cause they know they have a backup spot ready, whereas the other trucks will drive normally with basic caution and limit to not wreck in qualifying itself.
But, there is a big question that you might wonder about…
Why are crashes so important in a race?
Okay, so motorsports is all about racing without crashing. After all, crashing is dangerous and causes damage to the car and the driver in unfortunate cases. How can it even help a team during the season? Is crashing out an advantage?
Advertisement
To find out the edge of performance is highly necessary during practice sessions. It’s only when you crash and commit a mistake that you realize the true extent of your vehicle’s behavior in your hands. You become one with the car this way. With a free weekend pass to all Kaulig Racing cars, the drivers have only one job–find out the real performance of this truck. In the first few races, they would not face the consequences of the crashes and would enter the race anyway.
The data they gathered will start to kick in once they need to bring forth real results. The long truck series season ahead will be waiting for them to use the exact performance data to optimize the trucks better and start gaining an edge over the competitors, leaving them in the dust soon.
RAM trucks and NASCAR are going against the spirit of competition. This new ‘provisional’ exemption makes it seem like the entire system is rigged for NASCAR’s newest manufacturer. And the result? The audience now thinks that the sport is prioritizing profit over fair competition.
This way, they are back to square one. The fans are losing their trust, thinking that RAM trucks will get all the advantage while the other teams have to scramble around and race carefully.
Advertisement
The sport needs to think before it brings forth such weird rules and regulations. Ultimately, they were in a lot of trouble earlier on because of the way they handled the same rules. Even the fans were ready to leave the sport and switch to a better racing series, hoping to gain satisfaction and respect. Making desperate moves like changing championship formats will only go so far if the very next day, NASCAR rigs the entire system in favor of one single manufacturer.
The post FOX Analyst Leaves NASCAR Exposed as Executives Rig the System for RAM appeared first on EssentiallySports.
