NASCAR recently announced that stage racing at road courses will not have any caution flags that could interrupt the flow of competition.
Another change that NASCAR made is that they could now penalize “vehicles that employ a similar strategy to the one Ross Chastain used in his “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville Speedway”.
While these rules seem to be relatively accepted by NASCAR fans, there is one rule that is getting criticized a lot. While it has been implemented since the 2020 season, the Choose rule will now take effect even in superspeedway races and dirt races, as reported by Bob Pockrass.
NASCAR make major rule change regarding loose wheels
Choose rule will now be in effect for superspeedway races and dirt races.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 31, 2023
However, this decision didn’t go well with fans as they criticized the rule for making the race boring.
Another dumb rule change!
— Phillip Sterling (@PSterling9512) January 31, 2023
Stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!
— RSemperfi🇺🇸🏁 (@rsemperfi) January 31, 2023
Uh this is how we get single file…
— Sir Relkinstein (@sirrelkinstein) January 31, 2023
Well get ready for the chevy train, Ford Train, and Toyota trains lol
— Stephen Hernandez (@Stephen38244888) January 31, 2023
🤦♂️
— Joel Edmonds (@FishingSpotter) January 31, 2023
Don't agree with choose rule on superspeedways. You'll get nothing but weird team orders and will ruin a race.
— Bradan Hart (@BradanHart1833) January 31, 2023
This I’m not a fan of. Shouldn’t be aloud on superspeedways. Team and manufacturer orders will be highly in effect.
— Matt (@MIracingfan) February 1, 2023
This rule may make SS races more boring with Top Teams with many cars locking the restarts and stretch the field right away with no chance for smaller teams/driver without teammates near them.
— A French NASCAR Fan (@TheSilverPeaco1) February 1, 2023
The rule allows the drivers to choose between the inside or the outside lane after the restart. While some fans might be unhappy about it, NASCAR professionals would disagree as they see this rule as making the race more entertaining.
When it was implemented in 2020, Chase Elliott commented that “the choose rule’s been needed for a long time”. After all, the rule gives the driver freedom to choose their comfortable lan.