This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will officially begin. The first race that the 16 championship contenders will face is hosted by the Darlington Raceway. Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano will be right in the thick of the battle to retain his crown. However, there are several other drivers who are seeking that Cup Series title. Out of the 16 drivers, at least 10 of them are on the hunt for their maiden title, but it won’t be easy.

NASCAR has announced changes to tackle night racing

Of course, most of the races will be held in the daytime, but there will be some that will bleed towards nightfall. In most racing series, racing at night is usually a horrible idea, due to poor visibility. This in turn will dramatically increase the risk of driver safety. Of course, there are some races that take place at night, where the tracks have powerful floodlights.

According to reports, if NASCAR can deem that ‘unforeseen circumstances’ make it impractical to complete a race, the officials can use their discretion to decide when a race will conclude. For that, they will determine a set time and wave the white flag in front of the race leader once the time expires. Naturally, the sport does not want the drivers running well into the night, especially when the situation ends up like that.

After all, a regular race won’t exactly run for too long. Such a scenario will only arise if there are too many caution periods and overtime restarts, or if there is a lengthy red flag period. In the case of the latter, things can’t be helped because time waits for no one at all, and continues to run.

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What other changes are in store for the stock car racing series?

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There was also another new rule put in place by the NASCAR governing body. This largely pertained to non-NASCAR drivers being given a chance to drive the Cup cars. First and foremost, the drivers’ credentials must be outstanding, which includes spending multiple seasons in their respective sports. These can include racers from series like Formula One, Formula E, IndyCar, V8 Supercars, World Rally Champions, MotoGP and more.

These racers must also have a number of race wins and podiums to their credit. This also includes major achievements like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Bathurst 1000, Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500 and more. Finally, the eligible drivers must also have a significant presence in the media.

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