NASCAR to let teams regulate lug nuts during pit stops in 2015

FLRacingFan

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Not sure how I feel about teams potentially leaving lugs off to save time in the pits.

http://www.pittalks.com/2014/12/10/nascar-will-let-teams-regulate-lug-nuts-during-pit-stops-in-2015/

2015 should be an interesting year for many reasons. One of the main reasons will be rule changes coming to pit road. The one rule that stands out as a game changer will be the fact that NASCAR is letting teams regulate lug nuts during their stops. Basically, NASCAR won’t penalize or monitor missed lug nuts or lug nuts that get knocked off during a stop.

The new rule…or lack of rule, could be a huge gain for teams that want to gamble. Everyone knows that it doesn’t take all 5 nuts tight to keep a tire on. The tricky part is how many nuts does it take? There are stories floating around pit road of teams that have come into victory lane with 1,2 and 3 nuts on a wheel, and everyone is amazed. I think every situation is different and every situation could have a different outcome, but hitting only 3 or 4 nuts per side could speed up a stop and if teams are willing to gamble on that then it could pay off. In the past, teams had to make sure all 5 nuts were on the studs and if an official were to see a nut get knocked off they would hold the car until the nut was put back on. Changers were very aware of the rules and hit nuts with a speed they could control. Jack men were also aware of the rule and MOST would wait on the left side for all 5 to get hit. Now, all that changes.

The risk: there is always risk with reward and there is plenty of risks associated with taking this rule out. The first and most obvious risk is a loose wheel. Most changers are very concerned with the repercussions of a loose wheel and won’t risk it for a standard stop. I think this rule comes into play when your at a place that eats tires up and you get a caution with 10 laps to go and the whole field comes down to pit. This is when teams will gamble and may only hit 3-4 nuts and let it ride. With only a few laps left in the race, why not! That’s when this rule will become interesting. It should be mentioned that NASCAR will still penalize a team if a tire comes off the car during a run due to a loose wheel. You don’t see that very often but it has and does happen.

Good luck to all the pit crews in 2015.
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A huge nest of worms about to be opened .............. 3 lugs will be the norm and before long somebody will lose a wheel at 200 mph.............. this stuff is dumber than the chase IMO
 
DanicaFreak said:
Pretty hard to deny if they for example a crew member or fan were to be hurt by say a tire that only had 3 lugs on it
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A tire that flies off and hits somebody won't have any lugs on it unless it takes the hub with it.Then it won't be the lugs fault they got hurt.
 
Yet another stupid decision by NASCAR in order to try and spice up the sport and fix something that wasn't broken. I actually lost a lot of respect for them with this rule. Safety should be their number one priority and this is definitely not safe.
 
Do you honestly think that we are now going to be seeing a rash of tires falling off because of this rule? We tend to overreact to just about everything on here. Somehow I think it'll all be just fine. Just a hunch.
 
I know (dont ask why I know) that on my personal car I have had one lug nut hold the tire on but granted my personal car is not going 200 mph
 
I'm in favour of lessening the number of crazy infractions that can dictate the outcome of a race .Especially the inadvertent things Nascar is forced to react to in order to be politically correct. A car that has been in an accident that is a quarter of an inch too low , a driver that is speeding on pit road because he is coasting and out of fuel . No team is going to put it's multi million dollar driver in harms way intentionally. But rules infractions have become the star players in every sport and fans need to lighten up.
 
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I've always seen a "loose lug nut" as a controversial call as it were- the officials were going off sound more than eyes.

I see alot of 3/4/5 lug tests happening during the open team tests. Like the writer said, a place like darlington or atlanta, a team might be able to change 4 tires with 3 lugs in not much more time than 2 tires and 5 lugs. And if it's down to 10 to go or less, there isn't much to lose.
 
should be interestin .......we'll see.
new tv drama...... " # xx only tightened 3 "....etc
 
Quite the conspiracy theory , but I would expect owners to issue orders that will prohibit crews from intentionally missing lug nuts . Fans are crazy to think that RC is going to allow crews to tamper with the safety of his grand kids or any other driver . Heck I've seen drivers pull right into the pits at the first sign of a loose lug nut.
 
2 tires and 2 nuts plus 1 nut that is behind the wheel that has to drive it. Should be interesting and plenty of teams and drivers will push it to the limit. Seems like to me this is a step in the wrong direction safety wise. It will be just a matter of time before accidents happen because of this. Commentators will have something else to talk about like how many nuts xyz driver has. lol

Just wait till somebody lets it slip that Danica has 2 nuts.
 
ElliottFan said:
2 tires and 2 nuts plus 1 nut that is behind the wheel that has to drive it. Should be interesting and plenty of teams and drivers will push it to the limit. Seems like to me this is a step in the wrong direction safety wise. It will be just a matter of time before accidents happen because of this. Commentators will have something else to talk about like how many nuts xyz driver has. lol

Just wait till somebody lets it slip that Danica has 2 nuts.
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if Danica and Ricky were on the same team, the commentator could say Danica has the 17s nuts
 
this is funny I normally think if got to talk to a certain person this is the question I would ask them. you see I like asking questions. I have long thought if I got to ask a cup crew chief the question would be, how many lugs being tight does it take to keep a wheel on. I grew up as a country boy on a ranch. I can tell you full well on a street car you can get away with 2 or for sure 3 lugs being tight. while I haven't seen it with only 2 tight I have seen many cases of only 3 lugs being on the wheel period and the tire stays on just fine. Granted this isn't a high load and high speed application like a cup race.

this is actually a pretty interesting rule change to me. one will teams change anything about the studs or nuts themselves to take advantage of this. could this also include changes to the wheel?? I think what we will see is during the first part of the race no one is going to chance this. but with only a few laps to go I could totally see a team doing this especially on the left side of the car because that has less load on it. I ask what if a team is already in the chase?? why not just hit 3 and a little of the 4th and if it makes it tight when the jack drops oh well. OR we see lugs pop off all the time and the changer has to put them back on, I bet we see this not happen as much. will a team take a late model to a track and actually test how many lugs they can get away with leaving off?? speeding up the time it takes to hit the lugs makes a big difference we saw it in a race with denny hamlin. They were almost an entire second faster on pit road and it dang near won them the race just being that much faster. The difference was the air guns, imagine not having to hit the lugs at all.
 
will a team take a late model to a track and actually test how many lugs they can get away with leaving off??

No testing. :p
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Do you honestly think that we are now going to be seeing a rash of tires falling off because of this rule? We tend to overreact to just about everything on here. Somehow I think it'll all be just fine. Just a hunch.
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How many times this year have we seen teams underinflating tires knowingly leading to blowouts?I can see tires falling off because of this.
 
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Someone is going to try 3-4 lugnuts. They screw with tire pressure and camber, why wouldn't they screw with the lugnuts?
 
Nitro Dude said:
Here is a link to a video that shows why i don't think this new rule change is a good idea. http://video.foxnews.com/v/923197412001/fan-killed-by-flying-tire/#sp=show-clips&v=923197412001 Since this tragedy they have mandated a different hub design that would probaby be a good one for cup cars also.
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I'm kind of with you on this. I remember a few years ago they ran dirt cars on the Bristol track and there were several wheel failures. There was so much G-forces in the corner that the wheels were breaking around the hub. Going down the straight might be OK, but with a couple of nuts off going through the corner I don't think will be a good thing. We'll see o_O
 
I am not sure that I agree with the move or not.
But I am thinking it will not result in any free wheels becoming unmounted.

In a hypothetical situation if a crew installs any lugs at all securely, I doubt it becomes a free roller. It will just vibrate enough to ruin the studs and hub, and force the car back in the pits, then to the garage.

That is my expectation, I have to believe it is a naturally self policing or self cleaning issue. With to much of a gamble simply destroying chances to get a good finish, hence a third party official need not get involved.

I can't see Nascar accepting the liability otherwise. IMO they have been doing this long enough to know what to expect in advance.
However if someone is hurt as a result, I will mercilessly ridicule Nascar for letting it happen. Including a demand Brian's execution.
 
Zerkfitting said:
I'm wondering what the reason is behind the rule change.
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If it doesn't result in loose free rolling tires it is a good move. Penalties should be issued when justified, but only then. A no call often is the best call.

Let the drivers/teams settle it, without being contaminated by a judges call or penalties.
 
a one nut system would look weird and plus would take away for me the "stock" feel
 
They removed the officials from pit road starting next season. There won't be anyone there to count lug nuts anymore.
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It sounds like a cost cutting measure. How will they monitor other pit violations on a timely basis?
 
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