NASCAR is bringing back qualifying for all races and some practice in 2022
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
NASCAR will have qualifying for all races in 2022. And practice will return for most events, too.
It won't be a lot of practice, but some practice, which is more than they've had at many events the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as teams raced without practice or qualifying.
Teams will get 15-20 minutes for practice at most events in 2022, as NASCAR packages Cup practice and qualifying into a two-hour window that it hopes will attract viewership and give the networks ample time to focus on multiple drivers and storylines.
There will be a handful of events in which Cup teams get 50 minutes of practice: the Daytona 500, Atlanta-March (because the track has been repaved/reconfigured), Gateway (new for Cup), Nashville (first race for NBC) and championship weekend at Phoenix. At the Bristol dirt race, drivers will get two 50-minute practice sessions.
Qualifying will primarily be two rounds, with 10 drivers advancing to the second round to determine the first five rows. The exception will be the Daytona 500, for which the starting lineup will still be set by the duels.
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Here is how Cup qualifying will work:
At oval tracks except for Daytona and Talladega, the Cup field will be split into two groups, with those who finished in odd positions in the previous race in Group A and those who finished in even positions in Group B. Each group will get 15 minutes of practice. Then Group A will do single-car, one-lap qualifying runs (two laps at Bristol, Dover, Martinsville and Richmond), with the top five advancing to the final round. Group B will do the same. The 10 drivers who advance to the final round will then go out for one more lap (two laps at the previously listed short tracks) to set the lineup for the first five rows.
At Daytona and Talladega, except for the Daytona 500, there will not be practice, as teams often did not practice much amid worries of crashing and tearing up a car. All drivers will do one lap in single-car qualifying, with the top 10 going to the final round for an additional lap to set the lineup for the first five rows.
At road courses, each of the two groups will get 20 minutes of practice. The qualifying will be 15-minute group qualifying (all cars in the group can go out in those 15 minutes). The top five in each group will advance to a 10-minute final round.
For the Bristol dirt race, there will be two 50-minute practice sessions for all drivers (no groups), with four heat races to determine the field. Heat race lineups will be set by random draw.
How the remainder of the field will be set (whether by qualifying speed among everyone in the field, or whether Group A gets the inside row and Group B the outside row) and specific procedures are still to be finalized. The 36 charter teams are automatically in each race, with four spots available to non-chartered teams.
Changes for Xfinity and truck series, too
In the Xfinity and truck series, the practice-qualifying program will be 90 minutes. On ovals, there will be 20 minutes of practice for all cars, with one round of single-lap qualifying (two laps at Bristol, Dover, Martinsville and Richmond). They will not practice at Talladega and Daytona, and qualifying at those tracks will be like Cup in that the top 10 will advance to a final round.
For Xfinity and trucks on road courses, there will be a 20-minute practice for all cars, then two groups of qualifying in 15-minute rounds, with the top 10 advancing to a final round. For the truck dirt races, there will be two 50-minute practices followed by the heats with the lineup for the heats based on random draw.
Xfinity will have one 50-minute practice session for Daytona in February, Atlanta-March, Portland, Nashville and the championship at Phoenix. Trucks will have one 50-minute practice session at Daytona, Atlanta, Bristol dirt, Knoxville, Sonoma, Mid-Ohio, Nashville and Phoenix.
It is still to be determined how many starting spots will be available by time and how many provisionals there will be.
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
