JOLIET, IL - AUGUST 15: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Dow STEM Chevrolet, drives during testing for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Chicagoland Speedway on August 15, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
NASCAR President talks new NASCAR OEM’s
Racing News
NASCAR President Brent Dewar talks new OEM’s, encumbered wins and other 2018-19 rules/changes
NASCAR is heading into the playoff’s. Simultaneously, they are working on 2018 rules and packages.
With that said, there’s possible a lot of changes coming down the pipeline for 2018 and 2019.
“This is the busiest time of the season,” stated NASCAR president Brent Dewar to Kevin Harvick on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
NASCAR Scheduling
“It’s an interesting balance. Traditionally, we were kinda locked into a very similar format and schedule for that matter. We entered into 5 year sanction agreements with each of the tracks. It allowed us some stability.”
“We made what was some big changes for 2018. We’re excited about some of those elements. We’re going to put that same group together soon to talk about 2019.”
Some of the 2018 changes included; The Charlotte Roval and moving the final regular season race to Indianapolis.
“I think you’ll see more to come in 19. But we’ll be very thoughtful of the fans.”
New OEM’s
“We’re candid about what NASCAR can and can’t deliver, Brent Dewar stated on his pitch to new NASCAR auto manufactures.
“We have been in talks with other manufactures. We think that’s an important growth aspect for the sport. It’s a big investment.”
“We’re not looking for a manufacture to come in for 2-3 years as a marketing program. That doesn’t help the eco-system. Although we’re courting other manufactures, we’re actually courting them for a long term.”
“I think NASCAR can deliver a long term benefit for their marketing and engineering. I’m hopeful and optimistic that we’ll be able to add additional manufactures coming down the road.”
“In the last 4-5 years, we’ve been more disciplined in how how collect the information. We created the council’s. We started with the manufactures.”
“I can tell you, those first meetings of putting Toyota, Ford and Chevy in the same room. Talking about issues of common concern and common benefit. We’ve progressed a long way in 4 years.”
“They race like crazy on the racetrack and want to beat each other in the marketplace. But they actually come together, to find areas of common benefit to try and grow the sport.”
“We’ve come together as an industry. Like we did for the stages this last year. It’s not perfect, but at least there’s a way to get those communications to the sanctioning body.”
Encumbered finishes
Should NASCAR be taking wins away? They’ve held a belief that NASCAR fans should know who the winner is when they leave the racetrack.
That theory has been around since the 50’s. Is it outdated? Are there changes coming?
“What we like to do, is get the industry together. Make those decisions, in the off-season, for the following season.”
“Topics about encumbered and taking wins away, will happen in the Fall. We try to avoid mid-season corrections.”
“Last week, we probably didn’t have our best 10 days of the sport. Between, encumbered wins and penalties and ambulances on the track. We had a tough week. But we face it. It’s really important that we have a level playing field in the sport.”