Changes announced after Kevin Harvick's rant at Darlington, go into effect for Sunday's Playoff race at Kansas.
- The moves come three days after Kevin Harvick and J.J. Yeley suffered fire-related DNFs in last weekend’s Cookout Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
- The new rules allow intumescent coatings for the underside of the car’s lower crush panels, inside the exhaust cover panels, and the upper surface of the rocker box.
- “Obviously, nobody wants that (fire) to happen, so it’s good NASCAR is being proactive,” said driver Kyle Larson.
NASCAR has announced several rule changes designed to deal with the recent spate of car fires in its Xfinity and Cup Series cars. Officials announced them on Wednesday morning, three days after Kevin Harvick and J.J. Yeley suffered fire-related DNFs in last weekend’s Cookout Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
The changes are effective for Sunday afternoon’s 400-mile Playoff race at Kansas Speedway. Teams are scheduled for practice and qualifying on Saturday afternoon, with the 267-lap race scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Harvick roundly criticized NASCAR after his Ford ignited and burned without contact at Darlington. At almost the same moment, Yeley’s Ford burst into flames and also went to the garage. “I’m sure it’s just crappy-ass parts on the race car like we’ve seen so many times,” Harvick said after finishing 33rd, next-to-last among the 16 championship hopefuls. “They haven’t fixed anything. It’s kind of like the safety stuff. We just let it keep going and keep going.”
On a Tuesday morning radio show, senior vice-president Scott Miller said NASCAR was examining the causes of the fires and looking for solutions to the problem he called “unacceptable.” The new rules were announced almost exactly 24 hours later.
The update states:
• A lateral seal/dam must be installed between the back of the front clip weight box and the top of the splitter panel. This seal must extend laterally to the width of the engine panel. The purpose of this dam is to reduce the migration of tire debris from the splitter area;
• The lower front section of the right-side backstop panel must be trimmed (as indicated on an accompanying diagram). The section that is removed must be replaced by a 14-gauge stainless steel panel. The steel panel must be mounted inboard of the polymer panel;
• Using any joint adjustment available in the exhaust assembly, it is recommended that the clearance between the exhaust and the floor of the rocker box is maximized.
Rudy Fugle, crew chief for William Byron, spoke of the change on the Wednesday radio show: “This panel is going to do a good job of closing off the bottom where the fire is going to come into the cockpit,” he said. “It’s gonna help protect the driver.
“The big part of this steel panel going in the right front foot box, rocker panel area is going to keep that fire from going straight into the car. It’s got something that won’t burn. And so that’s a positive. Then they’ve recommended some coating that has some fire protective properties.”
Right from the start, crew chiefs and mechanics have suspected it was built-up clumps of rubber and insulation that were igniting under the hoods or along the rocker panels. There was some indication that extraordinarily hot exhaust was a culprit. The new rule is designed to keep the flammable material and the exhaust separate.
“There’s an intake for air in front of the car, and it has hoses that go into those rocker boxes,” Fugle said on the radio show. “Rubber is going through those hoses and collecting on the headers, and we have to vent all this stuff. We were able to count 20 pounds of rubber on some of our cars post-Darlington. So that’s a whole bunch that can catch on fire.”
The new rule also allows intumescent coatings for the underside of the car’s lower crush panels, inside the exhaust cover panels, and the upper surface of the rocker box. The coating is also permitted on the right side stop panel. Intumescent coatings help provide fire protection to steel components.
Defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson has heard a few details about the new rule, but he and crew chief Cliff Daniels haven’t discussed it thoroughly. “Even leading up to this, our team has been doing everything we can to be prepared if that situation does happen,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said on Wednesday. “Obviously, nobody wants that (fire) to happen, so it’s good NASCAR is being proactive. Hopefully, the problem gets resolved in the near future and teams don’t have to worry about freak fires taking them out of the race.
“I think all the drivers are on the same page (regarding safety of any kind). It’s a topic every single week in our drivers’ chat. They’re in communication with NASCAR a lot; they have conversations most months. It’s probably tough to make moves, decisions and changes as quickly as we drivers – who are in the cars and the ones at risk of getting injured – would like. It’s an ongoing topic and discussion, and I think NASCAR is always working on figuring out ways to make the cars safer.
“It’s an ongoing discussion (that) doesn’t happen as quickly as we all would love it to happen.”
In this case, at least Wednesday was a start.
Keyword: NASCAR Issues Rules Changes to Combat Car Fires