Simulators may be able to get the job done, but practice sessions have been instrumental for veterans and rookies alike to analytically register the various tracks and their occasional circumstances on each NASCAR weekend. The announcement of reduced 20-minute practice timings, post-COVID was another one of those controversial decisions that still receives much hatred in forums and discussions to this date.

However, many safety protocols in place during the pandemic have since been abandoned for the more immersive experience of the season’s festivities. And NASCAR Senior VP of Competitions, Elton Sawyer, only recently revealed how the reasons for the much-debated practice periods have evolved in the following years.

Elton Sawyer explains why NASCAR didn’t fully revert to extended practice in 2024

In 2020, during the outbreak and after a two-month layoff, former VP of Competitions and current Competition Strategist for NASCAR, Simon Miller, announced: “To have practice and qualifying, we have to have more people on the rosters… There’s a lot more things that need to go on in the garage area, so very much more difficult to execute all the safety protocols with the COVID-19.” 

Later in 2022, NASCAR itself actively announced a new format featuring expanded weekend schedules with two key elements: a “split Cup Series” participating in a combined two-hour practice and qualifying event, alongside “stand-alone” 50-minute practice sessions.  Moreover, this would also allegedly help the sanctioning body “limit the changes allowed and then impound cars after qualifying,” overcoming time constraints after conducting vehicle inspections over the weekend.

Four years after the world faced grueling conditions due to the coronavirus, a lot has been recovered, and the excitement of the world’s premier stock car racing has been running in full swing without any hitches. As treacherous ‘Dega prepares to make fans’ hearts skip a beat with every stage win and every overtake this weekend, current VP Sawyer took to DJD Reloaded to talk about why NASCAR did not “go back to the full practice schedule after the pandemic?”

“It wasn’t all about the cost, which was a huge part for all of us,” states Sawyer. He also explains how it’s “not just the garage area, or the TV partners, or our track partners. Collectively, all the stakeholders weighed in on what we needed, and we arrived at the format that we have today. “

Laying out his informed personal analysis, Elton Sawyer concludes, “And I would say if you look at the data as well as the eye test, You know our product on the racetrack is as good as it’s ever been.” Many may agree that a 2-hour practice-qualifying screentime experience “fits nicely in a television broadcast window.” However, with an evolving narrative surrounding the NextGen cars debuting only two years ago, fans, drivers, and owners have admitted that they “would love to have more practice” only if they could.

What did the drivers, owners, and Hall of Famers have to say?

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Late last year, rounding off his rookie season, Ty Gibbs and other veteran drivers talked to Bob Pockrass of FOX regarding this “unchanged” 2024 practice schedule. Driving the #54 Toyota for his grandfather, Coach Joe Gibbs’ gloried organization, Ty had said, “I spent a lot of time on the simulator. Simulating stuff and then going to the track and actually doing it—the cross from that is really hard… You have to make it close to be real. It’s pretty difficult going from that to the track, so I would definitely like longer practice.”

Former champions-turned-team owners, Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson, actively emphasize Ty’s needs. 2012 Sprint Cup champion Keselowski, now a team owner at RFK Racing alongside Jack Roush and Fenway Sports Group (FSG), stated, “I don’t think that the costs savings are that significant. I think initially there were some thoughts that we could save a little money and maybe increase the competitiveness of the field… Some of that has happened, some of that hasn’t.” Regardless, “having a little bit of practice is a good thing,” was Keselowski’s expert opinion.

Even Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson, now co-owner of Toyota’s latest race team alliance in Legacy Motor Club and the driver of its part-time #84 entry in the Cup Series, made some interesting demands before his Texas disappointments last week in the new NextGen car. A 7x NASCAR champion demanded that “It doesn’t need to be like it once was where you have four hours of track time, but double the track time now if it was 40 minutes, 45 minutes, I think you could really help the field in its entirety be more efficient with their spending.”

So should NASCAR take another step in helping teams, drivers, and owners streamline the sanctioning body’s efforts in providing a better-rounded race day experience? Or are the problems persisting only due to certain negligencies?