NASCAR’s Rules and Regulations

The rules and regulations inherent in NASCAR competitions are many and never ending; depending on the events before, during and even after a race, the final results can suddenly change due to the huge book of rules and regulations by which NASCAR races are governed.

David Stremme starts first in today's Sprint Showdown being held at Lowe's Motor Speedway

NASCAR officials had to really go through the book on Friday as qualifying for Saturday’s Sprint Showdown was washed away due to light rain that was falling on the track and they still needed to determine the grid order for today’s Sprint Showdown.

Just how would they determine the grid order in cases where qualifying rounds have been cancelled due to Mother Nature, in this case the order was determined using each drivers qualifying order, which was determined randomly. This leaves the No. 27 of Kirk Shelmerdine on the pole position for the Sprint Showdown, but unfortunately for Kirk NASCAR looked in their rule book and have ruled that he must start at the rear of the pack at the start since he wasn’t able to present himself for the pre-race inspection.

The rule book has been consulted and a ruling given, so which driver will start on the pole position of the Sprint Showdown? When the race starts for real today the No. 12 Penske-Dodge of David Stremme will be in the front of the field, something that was a pleasant surprise for David when he was told as he was driving home yesterday, he was so happy he came back to have a few laughs with the media.

This bit of luck is something that could turn out to be significant for Stremme, since the top two finishers in the Showdown advance to the All-Star race, and starting in the front can be a major advantage all other factors being equal. In addition, the longer he can stay on the track and in the front the more information he can get to help him when he gets through this preliminary race and to the All-Star race.

The official starting-grid for today’s Sprint Showdown at Lowe’s Motor Speedway will see David Stremme in the front after the pace car pulls off the track and penalties are enforced on Kirk Shelmerdine and Carl Long. He will be followed by Dave Blaney, Scott Riggs, Martin Truex Jr., David Ragan, Sam Hornish Jr., Max Papis, and A.J. Allmendinger.

“Image: Zuma Press”